Being of the Field (30 page)

Zeven buzzed at Kalayna’s door, but when there came no answer and he found the door was not locked, he entered.

The main apartment was in darkness, the only light coming from the bathroom. ‘Kalayna?’ He turned on the lights, and seeing her nowhere in sight, he made quickly for the illuminated room.

The young woman was in her underwear on the bathroom floor, lying unconscious in a pool of vomit. Her skin tone was looking decidedly yellow, all too reflective of the water he’d contaminated only an hour before.

‘Kalayna,’ he cried, scooping her up and shaking her. She coughed up more bile and skimmed the edge of consciousness. ‘Zeven…’ she mumbled, surprised to see him. ‘Help me.’ Her head rolled to one side and she passed out again.

‘No. Stay awake,’ he urged, already dragging her to the shower tube. ‘I’m so sorry…’ He turned on the cold water and, holding her up, he launched them both into the freezing stream.

‘Ah!’ Kalayna awoke with a start, and attempted to pull back from the ice water. She nearly escaped him, but he gripped her tightly.

‘It’s okay.’ Zeven triggered the hot water flow to stop her shivering, and she relaxed into his embrace. ‘Shhh.’

‘I feel like I’m dying,’ she moaned. ‘Please, take me to the doctor.’

‘No,’ he assured her calmly, ‘a doctor won’t help.’

She choked, unsure of his intentions. Perhaps he wanted to see her dead?

‘I caused your disease and I can cure it,’ he claimed. ‘If you can trust me?’

Kalayna managed a nod and Zeven pulled her near-naked form close to him once more and held her as tenderly as he might his dearest love. ‘I am so sorry I made you feel bad,’ he whispered to her through the water pouring down upon their heads and he noticed her body tremble. Was it fear, repulsion? Regardless, he conjured all the love Aurora had recently inspired in him and poured it into Kalayna. ‘You are beautiful, talented, intelligent and as deserving of love and trust as any.’

Kalayna stopped shaking and started crying, whereupon she began to hug him back.

‘I had no right to judge you in the first place,’ Zeven added. ‘I want you to thrive, prosper and be happy. I forgive you, Kalayna…please, forgive me.’

When she looked up at him, her skin tone had returned to normal. In fact, she looked positively radiant. ‘There is nothing to forgive you for,’ she said, smiling broadly through her tears. ‘I don’t understand how you did this.’ She stood firmly on her own two feet. ‘I suddenly feel rather…amazing!’

She laughed nervously at the miracle and gazed up into Zeven’s eyes, her breasts heaving with elation as excitement and joy coursed through her being.

There was a sudden pang of desire in his heart that was both exhilarating and disconcerting. ‘I should go.’ Zeven steadied Kalayna and stepped out of the shower. He really did try not to notice that the water had rendered her underwear see-through, nor how it clung to her tanned, athletic form.

‘You saved my life,’ she said, as the realisation only just hit home. ‘How did you do that, Starman?’

‘You don’t want to know.’ Zeven flatly refused to comment.

‘Yes, I do,’ she replied most sincerely, and they were held spellbound in each other’s gaze for a moment.

‘Sorry,’ Zeven blurted out. The attraction was intense and confusing. ‘Are you going to be okay?’ He noticed a towel on the wall, and without looking back passed it to her. ‘Do you want me to call Kassa?’

‘I can do it.’ Kalayna accepted the towel, sounding awkward as she had only that second realised her near naked state.

‘Be sure that you do.’ He headed for the door, needing to put some distance between them. ‘I’ll check up on you later.’

‘Starman…’ She wanted to say so many things to him, but with such heightened emotions running rampant through her being, she was lucky to string two words together. ‘Thank you.’

The feeling in her voice thrummed on his heartstrings, just as it had last night during her toast. ‘Just restoring the balance,’ he replied.

‘It felt to me that you just gave back far more than you ever took.’

Zeven wasn’t looking at her. He didn’t have to. The image of her all wet, trembling and smiling at him in adoration, was now burned into his memory. He felt it would be dangerous to loiter a second longer and hastened to leave the apartment.

In the corridor, he gave a gigantic gasp of relief. It horrified him to now realise that he still found Kalayna as attractive as when he’d first seen her sitting at that bar. It was easier when he’d disliked her; the attraction could be ignored. And yet, Aurora made him feel better than any other woman ever had, so how could he find himself attracted to another?

It seemed the path of love was just as precarious as the path of hatred.

Zeven wiped all the water from his face and wanted to shout with frustration, but bearing in mind what Ringbalin had taught him only this morning, he took three deep breaths and managed to maintain his composure. ‘Damned if I’m negative, double-damned if I’m not. I’m completely
screwed
,’ he summarised.

It was concluded that the pod diversion had worked, when in the space-time equivalent of a week AMIE found herself approaching the outer moons of Phemoria without having experienced any USS interference.

Aurora had yet to stir from her coma, but, unfortunately, Swithin had regained consciousness in the wake of his interrogation and was now being housed and sedated in a separate recovery room. Whilst he was in Kassa’s care, she took the liberty of quietly probing Swithin’s mind, and she was able to confirm that, as far as Swithin was aware, Anselm was indeed Taren’s father. It was also true that Swithin did not have the top-level security clearance that was required to have the knowledge of Taren’s secret code name within the secret services—but Anselm certainly did. Lucian had decided not to set his brother adrift in space, but in light of Swithin’s dislike of the Phemorians and his Sermetic sympathies Lucian had decided to hand Swithin over to the authorities on Phemoria for judgment.

The captain and Taren had been locked away for days thrashing out a proposal for the Phemorians in the hope they would supply the funds and support needed for AMIE’s deep-space research to continue. Their time together had not been all work—Lucian and Taren were falling in love and had been making plans for their future life together. They did not envisage an extended stay on Phemoria, but hoped to gain political asylum and patronage swiftly.

Their greatest wish was to return to space exploration as soon as possible so that they might seek the answers to Maladaan’s fate. Taren
hoped to secure an audience with the guild of mystical women known as the Phemoray whilst on Phemoria, which would be a first for anyone as far as she knew.

Most people maintained that the guild was just a myth promulgated by the Phemorians to incite fear in their enemies, but from the way Dr Portus spoke of the Phemoray they were still very much in existence. They were said to take physical form rarely, as they were a celestial breed in the main. That being the case, Taren imagined they might be able to tell her more about the entity she knew as Azazèl-mindos-coomra-dorchi.

Module C had made a full recovery and Ringbalin had been doing guided meditation with Zeven every morning for a week. The pilot gave his total focus over to Ringbalin during the sessions and found the meditations to be a welcome distraction from his otherwise confused and tortured thoughts regarding Kalayna and Aurora.

The pilot had still to eat a meal with the rest of the crew; he used the excuse of spending time with Rory to retreat from the gathering every evening. Despite his vigilance in avoiding the cause of his discontent, with every day that passed—and that Aurora remained asleep—his lustful thoughts about Kalayna intensified. Every evening he poured all the loving energy he could muster into willing Aurora to recover and wakeup, but still her condition did not change.

What if she never woke up? That question had been plaguing him all week. What if he continued to ignore his feelings for Kalayna, waiting for a lover who would never wake up?

Zeven shook off his fear and attempted to block both women out of his mind. AMIE was approaching Phemoria and he needed to service and fuel the smaller craft in the hangar bay in case they were required.

When the pilot walked into the hangar bay to find Kalayna up a ladder with her head in the back end of the recon vessel he’d taken to rescue Aurora, he didn’t know how to react. His instincts told him to turn around and leave quietly, but his mind wished to object to Kalayna being so presumptuous. ‘Hey! Just because I made peace with you does not automatically give you the right to start mucking about with my stuff.’

‘Sorry. Were you planning on replacing and rewiring your entire propulsion system?’ she inquired sweetly.

‘No,’ Zeven replied, perplexed. ‘Why would I want to do that?’

Kalayna’s jaw dropped in disbelief. ‘What…you didn’t notice when you landed this vessel that the propulsion system is completely
burnt out
?’

‘How could that have happened?’ Zeven climbed the ladder to stand beside her and take a closer look. ‘Holy shit,’ he cursed, as the damage was plain to see.

‘The only time I’ve seen this kind of damage to a craft was when a pilot forgot to shut off his system when caught in a tracker beam,’ Kalayna said. ‘I don’t understand how you could have failed to notice the lack of acceleration before you landed.’

Zeven could give no explanation, as he’d used PK to return the vessel to AMIE, and he wasn’t about to tell Kalayna that. ‘Can you fix it?’

Kalayna gave a sigh. ‘It will take a few days, but far as I can tell all the parts I need are in the hold. Although I may need a hand to move some of them.’

‘I’ll help,’ Zeven volunteered with a grin. Sensing a pleasant sentiment forming between them, he retreated down the ladder.

‘Okay!’ Kalayna jumped to the ground and returned his grin. ‘Let’s get started.’ She bounced off towards parts and storage.

The grin fell from Zeven’s face…after doing his best to avoid the girl, he’d just agreed to work closely with her for several days.
Idiot!
But what choice did he have? He needed this fixed and he certainly wasn’t so technically savvy as to imagine he could do the job himself. Grease and fuel, sure, but high-level mechanics he’d always left to the experts.

‘Come on.’ Kalayna waved to him, her smile beaming.

Clearly she was pleased that they seemed to be getting along and they now had a common goal to work towards. Zeven took a deep breath to suppress his doubts about working in close quarters with her and pursued Kalayna into the hold.

By the time Kalayna had to depart to fix dinner for the crew, they had just about gutted the dead propulsion system, and Zeven worked
on in her absence—as far as deconstruction went, he was perfectly qualified.

Kalayna returned, bearing dinner for them both, which they sat about and ate whilst they discussed the initial steps of the reconstruction. This was the first night that Zeven had missed dinner with Aurora; not that he really noticed, as he was learning a great deal. Kalayna’s personality was very bloke-like—they’d been working away together all day without any hint of the situation getting emotionally out of control. In fact, Zeven hadn’t enjoyed himself so much—when he wasn’t having sex—in ages!

After another six hours of hard labour, their enthusiasm for the job began to lessen. They started dropping things and bursting into fits of laughter for no good reason.

‘We gotta pack it in for the day, Starman…before I start welding the wrong wires together.’ She wiped tears of exhausted laughter from her eyes, so that she could see what she was doing.

‘Good call,’ Zeven said, taking the welder out of her hand before she hurt herself.

She took the hint. ‘I’ll pick it up in the morning,’ she said, shoving one hand deep into her filthy overalls and wandering toward the exit doors. She spun about and gave him a wave with her free hand. ‘Catch you then?’

‘Yeah,’ he replied, smiling and wiping his hands on a rag. ‘I’ll be here.’

‘Cool. I’m beginning to see what Aurora saw in you…you’re pretty cool for a guy.’

Zeven’s heart shot into his throat, as he was cast into panic. He didn’t want to encourage her affection, but he didn’t want to hurt her either. ‘Thanks. You’re pretty cool for…’

‘…a queer?’

Zeven shook his head to assure her that that was not what he was going to say. ‘…for someone who is trying to steal my girl.’

‘Technically she wasn’t yours at the time,’ she reminded him, regaining her humour. ‘And if I’m not mistaken, when we met that night at the bar you were trying to hit on me…’

She had him there and it made him really uncomfortable. ‘What do you want…an apology? Why bring that up?’

‘You’re right, that was uncalled for,’ Kalayna said, coming nearer to explain. ‘What I was really seeking to know was…do you still find me attractive, Starman?’

Now Zeven was even more annoyed. ‘Don’t tease me, Kalayna—’

‘I’m not teasing you,’ she confessed as her eyes filled with tears. ‘I’ve never felt this way about a man before and I don’t know what to do about it.’

‘Claiming to feel as you do about Aurora, how can you ask me about us?’ Zeven made it sound as if he was surprised at her, but in truth he’d been wondering if she harboured any secret feelings for him.

‘I know it makes me sound fickle and shallow, but when you’re around me, I feel like…there’s electricity between us,’ she blurted out, leaving herself wide open to rejection. ‘Tell me you don’t feel it and I’ll just drop the subject and never bring it up again.’

‘I think that is exactly what you should do,’ Zeven told her. She looked a little shattered and he felt like a coward when she’d been brave enough to put herself on the line. ‘Yes, I find you attractive. What man wouldn’t…’

Her spirits soared with his confession.

‘…but I could not bring myself to betray Aurora in such a fashion.’ He stepped further away from her, and the look on her face was one of complete empathy. ‘I would only prove you right about me, and I’m not that kind of guy any more. I’m sorry, Kalayna, but it seems I have found my conscience.’

Kalayna nodded and forced a grin. ‘I wonder if
I
have one sometimes. I wish I hadn’t brought it up at all. We’ve just started getting along and now it’s going to be…weird.’

‘Nah. We’ll get over it.’ And just to prove how wrong she was, he gave her a chummy hug. What he wouldn’t admit, not even to himself, was how good it felt to feel her in his arms. The electric connection Kalayna had spoken of was clear to him and had been ever since he’d healed her. ‘We make a good team.’ He let her go knowing he’d already savoured the embrace way too long.

‘We surely do.’ She sniffled back her emotion and smiled her genuine smile. ‘See you in the morning then.’

He waited for the doors to close behind her before he covered his face with his hands and fell to his knees. ‘You numbskull!’ He wasn’t sure if he was cursing himself because Kalayna now knew how he felt about her, or because he’d let such a lush opportunity slip through his fingers! ‘Damn it, Aurora,
wake up
,’ he muttered under his breath. He needed a little reassurance that he was being a saint for good reason.

On the way down to his quarters, he got the page from Kassa he’d been waiting for, and so quickly raced around to her medical chambers.

‘What’s happened?’ He burst into the recovery room to find Kassa adjusting the feeds that were running into Aurora’s still-unconscious form.

‘She stirred just a moment ago,’ Kassa informed him with a smile, ‘and she was calling for you.’

She heard me.
Zeven boggled at the news, a little disappointed that he’d missed her brief awakening.

‘It’s a very good sign that she is starting to emerge,’ Kassa said. ‘Coma patients rarely come immediately awake. They tend to drift in and out for a while…as you would when stirring from such a long sleep.’

‘Like coming out of stasis.’ Zeven was encouraged and took a seat at Aurora’s bedside.

‘She may not stir again tonight,’ Kassa told him.

‘I want to be here if she does.’ He gripped Aurora’s hand so that she might know he was there. ‘Could you do me a favour?’

Kassa delayed her departure.

‘Could you ask Leal to give Kalayna a hand in the launch bay tomorrow morning?’ He knew Kalayna would think he was avoiding her, but perhaps that was for the best.

‘Sure thing, kiddo.’ She winked conspiratorially, and Starman had to wonder if she was reading his mind. ‘You get some sleep,’ she said as she departed.

Zeven was being kissed over and over on the head and thought he was dreaming, until his sleep-time visions retreated into his subconscious and the kisses continued to flow.

‘Starman?’

The sound of Aurora’s voice sent a wave of shocked relief through his being. He found himself lying across her chest, his head being stroked into wakefulness. He turned to see her smiling down at him, tears of joy in her eyes. ‘You came for me.’

‘I sure did.’ He hoisted himself up to kiss her forehead.

‘You saved me.’

‘I love you,’ he said, and could not hold back his tears of gladness at being able to finally say so.

Aurora took hold of his face in both hands and kissed him with several years of pent-up passion.

Zeven was so relieved not to have given in to his desires regarding Kalayna the night previous. He felt he was now sure where his heart truly lay and there would be no more confusion.

Later that day, after Aurora had rested and been briefed on some of what had transpired during her coma, she felt compelled to speak with Kalayna.

Her girlfriend entered in a rather more filthy state than Aurora had ever seen her.

‘Sorry,’ Kalayna shrugged, as she flashed her grease-covered hands, ‘but I’ve been working my butt off trying to make amends for what I did to you.’ She frowned in a plea for mercy.

Aurora had been informed of Kalayna’s remorse and of her work for the project over the last week. Kalayna’s deep regret was evident in her humbled manner, which Aurora could hardly bear to watch.

‘No,’ Aurora said, shaking her head, tears in her eyes. ‘It is I who should apologise. I can’t say that I never would have got with Starman had I known you were on board, because I do love him—’

‘I know,’ Kalayna said sympathetically, as she moved to take a seat next to Rory.

‘I truly thought you had changed your mind when I couldn’t find you anywhere.’ Aurora took hold of her friend’s hands and squeezed them tight. ‘I’m
so sorry
I hurt you. What we had was
very
special to me…you inspired me with confidence in myself, and I cannot thank you enough for that.’

‘It’s okay.’ Kalayna hugged her, and they both burst into tears. ‘I was totally wrong about Starman. He’s a really amazing guy.’

Aurora’s heart gave a little jolt. Had Zeven seduced Kalayna in her absence? ‘I thought you said all men were bastards and you’d never think otherwise?’

Kalayna detected Aurora’s fear and sat back to reassure her. ‘I’d never met this crew then.’ She laughed at her own change of heart. ‘They’re all wonderful human beings…go figure. I got to do my dream job for a bit. I am really in your debt for that.’ Kalayna smiled, but Aurora had a feeling it was not completely sincere.