by Nic Plume
"And every school kid memorizes it," Mica added. "Everyone knows the names and the dates."
"So, how does that translate into meeting locations and times?" Tonee asked.
"Easy," Nitus answered. "Every region has one plaza named after each founding family. Their years of reign—each less than twenty-five—indicate the time of day, and their order of reign, the day the pickup will happen." He grinned broadly. "So, in descending order, the last family to reign would indicate the first pickup: today, at fifteen hours in Parilo Plaza, which is our home plaza." He looked at his wrist comm. "It’s past sixteen hours, so we missed today’s."
"But we knew that when we got the list," Leer continued. "The next closest is Totiga Plaza at ten hours on day four. That’s in Mannahe. We should be able to make that." He looked at Taylor, who hadn’t moved since they had arrived. "Shouldn’t we?"
Kaydeen shrugged. She wasn’t going to comment on Taylor’s condition in front of the boys. Tonee nodded his agreement. He had no intention to let Leer or his friends in on every detail, even if the teenager seemed to expect them to. And neither did Salayla.
"Walking?" She smiled and batted her eyes. "That depends on the terrain, the exact distance we have to cover, and what we encounter on the way." She appeared friendly and accommodating, but that didn’t mean she was. "Do you have a map?"
Tonee smiled. Their little social butterfly could be the biggest predator of them all.
The boys produced multiples. The team grabbed a printed regional map and a digital map with satellite overlay and got to work. They spent the next hour poring over the maps and quizzing the boys on what they could encounter on the way. They had no vehicles, other than the single-seat trail runners the boys used to get to the mine, so they planned on walking the distance and possibly using two of the trail runners to carry a litter with Taylor.
When they were done, Kaydeen went to check on Taylor while Tonee and Salayla dug through the kitchen cabinets for food. She joined them a few minutes later, frowning. Tonee paused, but she answered his questioning look with only a noncommittal shrug.
They were in the process of going through the food packs they’d found in the cabinets when Taylor started awake. He was fully alert, his body tense and ready to fight, his focus on Leer and Nitus, who sat with Mica on the floor two meters from the couch—easily within his reach.
"Whoa, Taylor. Stand down." Tonee dropped the packet of mushy meat substitute he’d been wrinkling his nose at and darted around the island.
Kaydeen beat him to it and slid in front of the boys. Taylor looked at her, then at Tonee and Salayla, and then relaxed.
He swung his legs around and sat up. Kaydeen motioned for him to stay seated and examined him. Satisfied with what she saw, she told him to stand. After another examination, she told him to drop. He looked at her.
"Give me some push ups," she instructed. "Drop."
He did. The moment he was on the floor, she ordered him back up. He jumped back to his feet. She held a finger in front of his face and moved it back and forth. His eyes and head followed its motion.
She shook her head. "You’re fine."
"Yeah." His brow creased. "Is that a problem?"
"No." She shrugged. "Merely unexpected."
He frowned at her, but she didn’t elaborate and he didn’t ask her to. Instead, he pointed at Leer and Nitus, who had moved to the other side of the room.
"Who are they?"
"Mica’s friends," Tonee answered as he stepped closer. "We’ll explain after you wash up." He wrinkled his nose. "You stink."
"We procured clothing that should fit you," Salayla added.
Kaydeen nodded her agreement. "And by the time you’re done, we’ll have some food ready."
He eyed Tonee’s colorful new-age shirt. "I’m hoping not quite as bright?"
Tonee spread his arms and puffed out his chest. "Hey, better than the rags you’re wearing. This, at least, has style." He grinned.
"That’s one way to describe it," Taylor replied as he followed Salayla down the hall.
Tonee waited for them to be out of earshot before turning to Kaydeen.
"So, what’s the diagnosis?"
"He’s fine." She walked back into the kitchen.
"I see that." He followed her. "Yet, you don’t seem to be happy about it."
"It’s not that I’m not happy about it, only confused."
"You know, it’d help if you elaborated. It’s kind of hard to hear your brain rattle from out here."
She looked at him and then glanced at the boys who had returned to their games.
"The blast seemed to have injured his vestibular system, with his symptoms pointing at a possible traumatic injury of the labyrinth," she explained, "but that makes no sense. Not without corresponding injuries."
She paused, probably wondering if she’d lost him. Unlike Kaydeen and Taylor, Tonee’s medical training didn’t go far past the rudimentary battlefield first aid every trooper learned, but he knew his explosives and with that came the knowledge of what his favorite toys could do to a person.
"Ok, so secondary and tertiary blast injuries are out. He was neither hit by shrapnel nor slammed about by the blast wind, but what about primary ones? The blast wave could’ve scrambled his insides."
"And injure only his inner ear?" She frowned. "Although primary blast injuries are hard to diagnose without a scanner, they do have physical symptoms. Plus, those symptoms get worse with time, not better. He seems to have healed in a few hours what should have taken days, if not weeks." She shook her head. "It makes no sense."
"So, maybe it wasn’t as bad as he let on."
She looked at him, "Are you suggesting he faked his injuries?"
He didn’t reply. He didn’t know what he was suggesting, or thinking, for that matter.
Twenty minutes later, Taylor still hadn’t returned. Tonee went to check on him. The bathroom was filled with steam. The fresh clothing they’d found for him was lying on the floor, probably damp from the moisture by now, and his dirty clothes had been dropped right beside them. Taylor was still under the shower, leaning against the wall, letting the hot water run over him. His back was to the door. His skin was blemish free. Taylor turned to look at him. Tonee couldn’t see any of the lesions or welts Taylor’s body had sported for most of their time in the mine. Kaydeen’s fear that without regen tech, the damage from the neural whip might leave permanent scars, had obviously been unfounded.
"Dinner is ready." Tonee motioned at the clean clothes on the floor.
Taylor tilted his head. "Say that again."
"Dinner."
"No, the whole thing."
"Dinner is ready?"
"Yeah. One more time." He grinned. "Come on, indulge me."
He made Tonee repeat himself twice more and then laughed.
"Damn, that sounds good. Almost normal."
Tonee laughed and walked back out.
Salayla looked up. "Share the jest."
"I had to tell him dinner was ready four times."
Kaydeen frowned. "He had problems hearing?"
"No." Tonee shook his head. "It sounded so good that he couldn’t get enough of it."
Taylor came out of the hallway pulling his shirt over his head. His hair was still dripping.
Salayla grinned at him. "You think dinner sounds good?" She asked. "Wait until you taste it."
Taylor grinned in return. Damn, it was good to see everybody cutting up again.
They sat to eat.
Kaydeen warned them to take it slow. After six months of gelatinous food substitutes, their stomachs weren’t used to real food. Tonee didn’t consider the reconstituted meal they’d prepared real food, but he heeded her warning.
His taste buds exploded. His jaw instantly locked in response. He didn’t remember ever tasting anything so good—the flavors were more intense than anything he’d ever eaten fresh from the market.
His parents had always proclaimed that the first meal after an exte
nded deep space mission was the best one could taste. He’d never believed them. Now he did.
They spend the next two hours nibbling their food while bringing Taylor up to speed on the current situation and clarifying their plans of action. They would spend the night in the apartment and then head out at first light. With Taylor’s unexpected recovery, they should be able to get into the valley by late morning. Mica had told them about a hiking trail leading directly into the valley that was much smaller and steeper than the path the boys usually took with their trail runners, but would cut their travel time by a third. It also had multiple locations with views of the valley and Mannahe, the largest city in the region and where Totiga Plaza was located, so they’d be able to get a view of what lay ahead of them. The team decided to take the trail, although it meant they’d have to leave the trail runners behind.
Leer suggested that he, Nitus, and Mica could take the trail runners and meet the teammates down in the valley. Taylor rejected that option. The trail runners were fast and could be used for scouting, but they were also loud and bulky. The last thing they needed was some overzealous teens zipping around bringing attention to them. Leer bristled, but Salayla smoothed over Taylor’s bluntness by explaining that they could only protect each other if they stayed close enough to support each other. Her subtle reminder of Leer’s earlier promise did the trick, although Tonee could see that she’d have to continue to work her magic on him. Taylor watched the interaction with his head tilted, but said nothing.
After dinner, they rehashed their plan, its contingencies, and their emergency protocols one more time with the boys before calling it a night.
The boys slept in the back bedroom, Nitus in the single bed and Leer and Mica on camping mats on the floor. Tonee claimed the couch and first guard, and sent the others into the front bedroom with its oversized double bed. When Taylor offered to take the couch and the first shift since he’d been sleeping most of the day, Tonee waved him off.
"I’ve been sharing with them for months," he nodded toward the bedroom Salayla and Kaydeen had disappeared into. "It’s your turn to keep them warm."
Taylor studied him for a moment, shrugged, and disappeared into the bedroom.
The apartment fell quiet. Tonee grabbed Mica’s datapad and settled onto the couch.
A muffled sound roused him two hours later. He’d fallen asleep—bad choice to sit on a couch reading when he’d felt nothing other than hard, cold floor below him for months. He stood and listened. The double door to the front bedroom was closed, but he heard Salayla’s and Kaydeen’s voices filtering through it. They sounded concerned. He opened the door.
Taylor tossed and turned on the bed. Kaydeen was sitting on him, restraining his arms and legs while Salayla crouched next to her, clasping his neck between her hands. Kaydeen looked up as Tonee entered. A purple mark marred her left cheekbone.
"We can’t wake him. Salayla can’t even read him. He’s totally shut her out."
Tonee took Salayla’s position and grabbed Taylor by the shoulders, motioning for Kaydeen to back off. As Kaydeen released him, Taylor started to fight Tonee, but his movements were too uncoordinated to do more than rumple the sheets below him. Tonee shook him while calling his name, then slapped him across the face. Taylor continued to struggle. Tonee slapped him again. The third slap finally seemed to get through to him, but not in the way Tonee had intended. Taylor raised his arms protectively and cowered in fear. Tonee called his name again.
Taylor froze.
"Tonee?" His voice, barely over a whisper, quivered.
"Yeah," Tonee answered, unsure what else to say.
Taylor reached out a searching hand as if he couldn’t see Tonee leaning over him. His other hand continued to guard his face protectively. Tonee pulled him up. The moment Taylor’s hand found Tonee’s shirt, he latched on. Tonee wrapped his arms around Taylor’s trembling body.
"I got you."
He looked from Kaydeen to Salayla, who shook their heads.
"We were asleep when he started to whimper, then toss and turn," Kaydeen explained. "When I touched him, he attacked, but it was nothing he would normally do. More like he was afraid of me and trying to get away. Salayla pulled him off me and then tried to Read him, so he started fighting her. I restrained him, but she still couldn’t get in."
"His mind blocked me," Salayla expanded. "I’ve never seen a human do that before. I couldn’t get him to recognize me."
"Then you walked in," Kaydeen took over again, "and here we are." She peered around Tonee’s arms at Taylor’s face. "He recognized you, but I don’t think he’s awake."
"What do you want me to do?" Tonee stopped rocking.
"See if you can lay him back down."
Tonee tried, but Taylor continued to cling to him. "He has a death grip on my shirt."
"Then lie down with him," Salayla suggested.
She and Kaydeen slipped off the bed. Tonee rolled onto his side, bringing Taylor with him. He continued to tremble but didn’t resist the prone position Tonee pushed him into. It took another ten minutes before Taylor relaxed enough for Kaydeen to declare him fully back asleep. Tonee released him and tried to slide away. As soon as he did, Taylor’s grip on his shirt tightened. He reminded Tonee more of a frightened child hiding from the monsters in his dreams than the self-assured teammate Tonee had come to know over the last three years. Tonee shook his head. What the hell did they do to him?
Salayla waved him off and motioned for him to stay where he was. He nodded and settled in for the rest of the night—it looked like he wasn’t getting his time alone after all. Ah, well. At least I got the comfortable bed.
15
Conflict
Kaydeen rummaged through the kitchen in search of breakfast when she noticed Taylor sliding out from under Tonee’s arm. He looked at Tonee’s sleeping form and then to the couch where Salayla slept and frowned. She started to speak, but then clamped her mouth shut. What could she say? ‘Hey, nice to see you fully awake. Are you aware that you have some underlying angst that caused a tussle last night?’ If he remembered, this wasn’t the time to delve into it. If he didn’t remember, it still wasn’t the time to open that box. She needed him as close to his top form as possible. Discussing psychological wounds or dragging them into the open wasn’t the way to get him there.
After a few moments, he stood and came into the kitchen. He stopped a few steps from her, started to speak, stopped, started again, and then looked around with his mouth working as if unable to put words to the puzzle in his head. She had never seen him so confused before, at least not in such a contemplative, serious manner.
Behind him, Salayla had woken as he had crossed the living area and now watched quietly from where she lay.
Tonee woke, looked around, and jumped up. Taylor reacted to the noise behind him but didn’t turn around. Tonee entered the living area, taking in the scene. His muscles tensed and his movements smoothed as he moved closer. He was readying to pounce. Kaydeen wanted to signal him to back off and let her handle it, but there was no way to do so without Taylor noticing.
"Taylor," Tonee called quietly. He was about ten paces away.
Taylor’s eyes refocused. "I’m fine."
Tonee continued to approach. "Then let Salayla read you."
"No." Taylor stiffened. "I said I’m fine."
"Bullshit." Tonee stopped a few paces behind him.
Salayla stood and approached, slowly and carefully, as if sudden movement might cause irreparable damage.
This was surreal. What was Tonee going to do? Physically force Taylor to submit to a Reading? Even if that worked, what if Taylor blocked it again like he did last night? Not that it should be possible for a human. But, what kind of damage would that do to the team? And why was Salayla so tentative? After all they had gone through over the last six months and last night, needing some time to process things was understandable, wasn’t it? Kaydeen wasn’t sure, but she did know one thing. They didn’t need a fight right no
w.
Before she could say anything, Tonee spoke again. "You need to let her Read you."
Taylor’s eyes locked on Kaydeen’s chest.
Kaydeen had never seen him like this before—backed into a corner, preparing to fight. The escalation was imminent and so obvious. Why was she the only one who saw it? But, despite all her insight, she had no idea how to stop it.
She didn’t have to. Tonee’s next words did.
"We are a team. We live as a team. We fight as a team. And we will die as a team, if we must. But we will not leave a teammate behind." He repeated the words exactly as Taylor had spoken them so many lifetimes ago, then added, "Physically or otherwise."
Taylor’s resolve collapsed. The pain, so clearly visible in his face, nearly tore apart her heart. She had no words…could only watch as he crumbled.
Salayla was suddenly behind him. Kaydeen hadn’t seen her move. She reached for Taylor’s neck, but stopped before touching him and looked at Kaydeen.
Her silent question hung between them.
Before Kaydeen could answer, Taylor nodded, lowered his head, and leaned into her. His weight pushed against her in surrender. She moved a leg back to brace herself, put her arms around him to keep him upright, and felt utterly inadequate to carry him. But he was finally ready to let them in. Kaydeen smiled at Tonee. Today, Din weren’t the only empaths with the right words.
Salayla gave her a quick nod and touched the right side of his neck while Kaydeen reached for his left. A shiver ran through Taylor’s body, physically manifesting their mental contact. They didn’t push, didn’t force their way, but hovered, waiting for him to open. At first, he seemed like a fortress, dark, brooding, and sealed shut. They waited patiently.
"Taylor." Tonee spoke as if addressing an injured animal. "Let them in."
Salayla must have signaled him, or maybe Tonee had learned to recognize when they entered another’s mind.
Taylor’s presence shifted. It was still dark and brooding, but the energy had softened and swirled. With the swirls came the pain. It wasn’t physical pain, but a twisted, inside-out jumble of emotions that was wearing him down and grinding his spirit to dust. The first time Kaydeen had sensed it, it had taken her breath away. Luckily, her audile gasp had easily been explained by their physical activity at the time. This time, she was ready for it.