Ria's Visions (Hearts of ICARUS Book 6)

by Laura Jo Phillips

  No, Riley, I can’t trust anyone. Not with the truth. Not the real truth. “Of course I know that, Riley,” she said as they both sat down on the boulder facing the pasture below.

  On second thought, Ria wondered if this might be a good way of figuring out what she should say to Vari. She thought about it carefully for a few moments but, as far as she could tell, she really had nothing to lose.

  “I messed up and my parents are extremely unhappy with me over it,” she said abruptly.

  “What happened?”

  “You know about the Leaper, and how Vari and the Dracon-Bats rescued everyone?”

  “Yes, of course. It was very brave of them.”

  “It was,” Ria agreed. “I didn’t know it, but they had orders to get me and Shanti off the Leaper and onto the Bihotza. When Pandora found me and told me Vari was waiting in her stateroom to transport me, I refused to go.”

  Riley’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why’d you refuse?”

  Ria swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on a herd of cows, tiny in the distance. She didn’t like the story she was about to tell. She didn’t like the way it made her feel, or the kind of person it made her look like. But it was what her parents already believed, what they’d told her she’d done.

  She knew they didn’t think much of her, that they still thought of her as an impulsive child that couldn’t be trusted not to climb the barn roof on a whim. But the unexpected revelation of just how little they thought of her had shocked her so thoroughly that she hadn’t been able to think at first, let alone contradict them.

  When she did think to defend herself, she hesitated, wondering if it might not be best to just go along with them. As hurtful as it was to hear what they believed she’d done, it was still better than any story she’d been able to come up with herself and, as usual, she couldn’t tell them the truth. She was sworn not to and besides, the truth was even more shameful than what they already thought.

  When they showed her a clip of the mission vid she was even more shocked. That Vari would believe her capable of such things was so painful it literally took her breath away.

  She decided on the spot to go along with what her parents were telling her she’d done, and she would stick with that decision. The problem was making herself repeat their story, which was why she wanted to test it out on Riley first.

  “The Doftles murdered a thousand passengers the previous night, and I was trying to soothe the grief of those who’d witnessed the murders. I told Pandora to tell Vari that I wasn’t leaving, that the passengers needed me.”

  “Did you tell your parents that?”

  No, they told me that, and part of it was even true. “Yes.”

  “What did they say?”

  Nothing I want to repeat. “They showed me a clip of the mission recording. I saw Vari’s reaction when Pandora told her I wasn’t coming. I saw how difficult it was for her to choose between risking the lives of everyone on that ship by trying to find me, and accepting my choice so she could save the lives of everyone else.”

  “I don’t understand,” Riley said, frowning. “Why would it cost lives for you to remain there?”

  I didn’t understand that either, but hang on because this is the best part. “Because they believe I would’ve made a scene if Vari and Declan had come after me. That I would have forced them to reveal themselves to the Doftles if they tried to make me transport off the Leaper. If I’d done that, the Doftles probably would’ve killed a lot more people. They might even have blown the ship, killing everyone. If they had, it would have been one hundred percent my fault.”

  Riley shook her head. “I don’t understand why anyone would think you’d make a scene, Ria.”

  Ria hesitated, surprised at how difficult this was to say. Not as hard as it’d been to hear her parents say it to her, but close. “They think that I got a big head about being the only one who could soothe people’s emotional trauma. That I was, as always, acting without thought, thinking only of myself and what I wanted, not even considering the obvious fact that I’d be risking the lives of everyone else on the Leaper.”

  “What?” Riley asked, stunned. “None of this makes any sense, Ria. I mean…okay, yes, it’s no secret that you had impulse issues as a child, but you’re not a child anymore. You’re not stupid, either, nor are you self-absorbed or big headed. Why would anyone ever think such things of you?”

  “I don’t know,” Ria said quietly. “Maybe it’s the only reason they can think of for me putting the tears of a few passengers ahead of the lives of all of them.”

  Riley’s frown deepened. “You would never have done such a thing for any reason, and certainly not for that reason. I know this. My Mom knows this. Rikki and Rose know this. Surely your parents know this, Ria.”

  No, they really really don’t. “I certainly never intended to put other lives at risk, and it never occurred to me for a moment that I was.” She shrugged halfheartedly, hating this story even more now than before she’d begun. “But that doesn’t change anything.”

  “I think you need to speak to Vari about this, Ria. If you haven’t already.”

  “I haven’t, but I will,” Ria said. “Just as soon as I work up the courage to face her.”

  She needs courage to face Vari? Riley wondered in surprise. This was even worse than she’d thought.

  “Anyway,” Ria continued, “at the very least I owe Vari and the Dracon-Bats an enormous apology.”

  Apologizing wasn’t exactly what Riley had in mind, but at least Ria intended to talk to Vari. And the sooner the better. She didn’t like the vibes rolling off of Ria.

  “Come on,” she said, standing up. “I’ll walk back with you.”

  Ria stood and brushed herself off, then climbed down off the boulders with Riley. “How’s your Mom? I need to stop and visit her later.”

  “She’s not home,” Riley said. “Mom and the Dads left this morning with Harlan, Matt, and Weld. They wanted to see the Interstellar Military Flight Training Academy for themselves. They still aren’t convinced it’s a good place for them, but I think it has more to do with how long they’ll be gone. It won’t be like college, with regular breaks.”

  “I’m sorry I missed her,” Ria said as they cut across the pasture, avoiding cow patties without giving it much thought. “How are Rikki and Rose doing?”

  “They’re great,” Riley said with a half-hearted smile.

  “But?”

  “For the first time, we’re all going off in different directions. In fact, Rikki already left, and Rose leaves tomorrow. I leave in a few days. It makes me a little nervous to be separated from them for so long.”

  “Yeah, it’s not easy,” Ria sympathized. “I know Rikki went to art school, and you’re heading to college, but what did Rose decide on?”

  “She’s going to the Academy of Inter-System Security,” Riley said softly.

  “I thought you had to have a college degree before you could apply there, like ICARUS.”

  “You do, but unlike ICARUS, Inter System Security offers the option of an intensive two-year prep course. It’s hard to get into, and harder to get through, but Rose decided to give it a try and got the highest marks on the entrance exams. If she continues to excel, they’ll fast-track her. Even our Dads were forced to admit it was the right choice for her after that.”

  “You’re not happy about it, though.”

  “No, I’m not,” Riley admitted. “I want her to be happy, and I know this is what she wants to do. I certainly don’t doubt her abilities, either. She’s gryphon, and that makes her very tough and difficult to harm. But working for Inter-System Security is dangerous work whether you’re gryphon, bearenca, or Marrazon. Especially with the Doftles causing so much trouble out there.”

  “Well, she’s got two years of prep, then two more years of academy, plus an internship, right?”

  “Unless they fast track her which, knowing Rose, they will. But that only applies to the prep course, and she has to stay there for one
year minimum. You can’t fast track through the Academy.”

  “That’s still three years.” Ria shrugged. “Maybe someone will find a way to stop the Doftles by then.”

  “I sure hope so,” Riley said.

  Chapter 3

  Vari looked up from her reader at the sound of crunching gravel and smiled as she saw the ground car parking in front of the house. By the time Declan, Jay, and Kai reached the porch she had tall glasses of iced tea poured for each of them. They accepted their drinks and kisses before sitting down in the chairs they’d made their own during their stay.

  “How’d it go?” she asked, sitting down with her own drink.

  “It was unbelievable,” Declan said, shaking his head. “We gave Borat the Blind Sight unit that ceased working the moment the council attempted to reverse engineer it. Within half an hour he told us why it wasn’t working. He wandered around the lab, gathering odds and ends of things here and there. Then he sat down, made a couple of tiny parts that made no sense to any of us, put them in the unit, closed it, and it worked.”

  “Wow, that’s…amazing.”

  “No, it’s scary amazing,” Jay said, shaking his head. “He swears he’s never seen a Blind Sight unit before.”

  “He hasn’t,” Vari said. “I knew he was a savant, but I didn’t expect him to be that good.”

  “Nor did we,” Kai said.

  “Will he be able to make the other Jumper work?”

  “If given the opportunity to do so, I think he can,” Jay said. “His trustworthiness is a sticking point for most of the council.”

  “I understand that,” Vari said. “I don’t think they’ll have to worry about him, but at the same time, I certainly can’t guarantee it, either.”

  “Nobody’s loyalty can be guaranteed,” Jay said. “If he can actually make the other Jumper work, and if he can reproduce Keys, I think it’s worth the risk.”

  “I agree,” Declan said. “Borat could make an enormous contribution to our efforts against the Doftles. I hate to throw that away for any reason.”

  “He’s already agreed to let them monitor him around the clock,” Vari said. “And I’ve spent hours listening to his mind during the council’s interrogations and never once caught him hedging an answer. He’s fully admitted his part in smuggling the containers onto the Leaper, and accepts full responsibility even though he had no idea it was Doftles in the containers. He’s made no excuses for his actions and wants only to help.” Vari shrugged. “I’ll speak with Uncle Garen again, but I think we’ve done all we can on this matter.”

  “Agreed,” Declan said. “It sure would be nice to know that there’s a fleet of ships here outfitted with Keys in case we need them to come after us, though.”

  “It would be,” Vari agreed. “Did the Leaper arrive yet? Do you know?”

  “It made port last night, actually,” Jay said. “All but a handful of the passengers have already boarded other ships to go home. The people who worked on the Leaper are a little lost right now, though.”

  “That’s understandable,” Vari said. “I wonder why no one told me Ria got home last night.”

  “Because she didn’t,” Kai said. “We saw your Ata down at the Garrison early this morning. Ria stayed in town overnight to do some shopping, and to get the crystal in her hand terminal replaced, so they were going to go get her around mid-morning. She’s probably home now.”

  “I’ll have to make a point of seeing her before we leave.”

  Declan nodded and sipped his tea. Personally, he didn’t think too much of Vari’s sister. What little he knew of her, anyway. They’d never actually met her.

  “How’d it go with the Kinahn women today?” Kai asked.

  “The problem of finding room for them has been resolved,” Vari said. “I can’t say I’m completely happy about how it came about, but it’s really the only solution I could come up with.”

  “What happened?” Jay asked.

  “Of the twenty-three women, fifteen have been advised, strongly advised by the ICARUS psychologists who will be onboard the Beacon, to make the journey in hibernation tanks.”

  “On what grounds?” Kai asked.

  “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It’s not a surprise. They all have it to some degree of course, but those fifteen are considered to have more serious cases than the others.”

  “Thanks, sorry for the interruption,” Kai said, smiling as he touched his forehead with a finger in apology. Vari returned the gesture, accepting the apology, and continued.

  “Of those fifteen, seven have opted not to follow the advice. They, along with the remaining eight who’ve been deemed stable enough to make the journey outside of a hibernation tank, have decided they want to stay together. For some reason about half of them insisted that they all travel on the Bihotza, while the rest don’t really care.

  “I pointed out that we don’t have room for all of them. I also pointed out that we don’t have the training to deal with the emotional trauma of so many women for such a long period of time.”

  “Agreed,” all three of her men said at once. She grinned at them, then sipped her tea before continuing.

  “They did not agree. They dismissed the lack of space as an issue altogether, insisting they’d be fine sharing three to a room. And as far as the counseling, most of them don’t want to be bothered with it anyway.”

  “So what did you end up doing?” Declan asked finally.

  “I made a few executive decisions. Not only will all of them travel on the Beacon, they will all receive mandatory counseling during the expedition. Anyone who refuses to attend counseling, will be placed in hibernation for the safety of every other person on the ship. Period.”

  “Good,” Declan said. “The last thing a ship in space needs is a dozen or so traumatized people capable of who knows what.”

  “Exactly,” Vari said. “Most of them didn’t like my decisions, and a few of them got angry. I pointed out, rather sharply, that a lot of people were taking an enormous risk in trying to return them to their home world. If they couldn’t be bothered to do the one thing being asked of them to help themselves, they could stay here until another ship attempts the journey.”

  “You did good, babe,” Kai said, smiling at her. “It was the smart thing to do and at the same time, took the problem off of our shoulders.”

  Vari smiled back. She felt good about the decisions herself. How to deal with so many traumatized women in an enclosed environment for a year or more had been a big worry for her.

  “What does Nia think of your decisions?” Declan asked.

  Vari grinned. “She said I should knock their ungrateful heads together and stuff them into the hibernation tanks whether they like it or not.”

  The men laughed. “I’m glad to know the woman who’ll be guiding us has some practical sense,” Declan said.

  “Yes, me too,” Vari agreed. “So that’s the good news.”

  “What’s the bad news, babe?” Kai asked.

  “The young man who accepted the position as Niri’s junior med-tech has changed his mind.”

  “He agreed three weeks ago, and signed a contract,” Jay growled. “He then waits until we’re three days from departure to back out?”

  “I know, and believe me when I tell you that as frustrated as we are, Niri is ten times as frustrated. And angry. She’s already submitted a letter of complaint to the Medical Review Board, Ethics Committee.”

  “Do we have anyone else we can call in at this late date?” Declan asked.

  “Niri has a few people she plans to contact, but doesn’t really think she’ll find a replacement.”

  “Can we go without a junior med-tech?” Jay asked.

  “Niri says yes,” Vari replied. “The med-techs will have to pick up the slack, of course, which they won’t like. My real concern is that since she’ll be running the infirmary on both the Bihotza and the Hilgaria, she needs all four of her med-techs to actually do med-tech level work since we haven’t foun
d a fifth one yet, and it doesn’t look as though we will. That makes a junior med-tech more important than it would be otherwise. But, if we can’t find anyone in the next three days, we’ll need to make do with what we have.”

  “We still have several positions to fill,” Declan said. “We’ll just add that to the list.”

  “We have some good news,” Kai said, getting up to refill his glass.

  “Which is what?”

  “Our dairi are ready.”

  “Really?” Vari exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me that first thing?”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  “I didn’t think they’d be ready until the day after tomorrow, so why would I have asked?”

  “Hmmm…good question.”

  “Where are they?”

  “We haven’t gotten them yet,” Kai said. “We got the call on the way to the ranch. We’ll pick them up in the morning.”

  “I’m so glad,” Vari said. “I’m really looking forward to teaching you guys a lot more than I thought I would.”

  As are we, Miraku,” Declan said, smiling.

  ***

  Riley and Ria parted ways, Riley heading toward home while Ria turned toward River House. Her steps got slower and slower the closer she got to her destination until she realized what she was doing. With an impatient huff she picked up her step.

  I’ve already done the hard part. All I have to do now is follow through. It’ll be embarrassing, but I can deal with that. If Vari’s men get angry it’ll be more difficult, but the Dracon-Bats are Clan males. I just need to remember that.

  She stopped when the red brick chimney of River House was within sight, but before she topped the hill allowing herself to be seen. For just a moment she wished that Vari was alone, then grimaced. In line with the story they all believed, and that she’d decided to adopt, she owed all of them an apology and that’s what she was going to give them.

  She just hoped none of them lied to her because for some reason, she’d lost the ability to turn that particular ability off just as she’d lost the ability to turn her empathic abilities on. She’d spent the past few weeks on the Leaper trying, and failing, to get her hard won control back.