Being of the Field (45 page)

‘We need to return Taren, this weapon and the crown of Phemoria into safe hands,’ Lucian yelled as the stormy disturbance grew more violent.

Zeven suppressed his urge for instant revenge and headed back to Lucian and Taren. When he reached them, Lucian closed the lid of the case.

The angry female thought-forms vanished and the atmosphere instantly stilled.

‘Why not leave the Phemoray to fight out their fate?’ Zeven wondered.

‘Not our decision to make,’ Lucian said, ‘and certainly not Khalid’s. These souls are tortured enough. There must be a better way to end their suffering.’

Taren and Zeven nodded to accept his reasoning, and then looked at each other to ask: ‘Are you all right?’

Taren smiled and gave a nod. She considered the idea that they might be related in some way. ‘Thanks for coming back to check on me.’

‘I was compelled,’ Zeven grinned, still embarrassed that he’d presented himself butt naked before two of the most powerful people in the USS.

The air in the room began to stir once again and Lucian beheld the ghosts of Dead Man Downs massing above, making ready to descend upon them and retrieve the crown case. ‘Time to leave…now!’

‘Back to the queen then?’ Starman assumed as he gripped hold of the captain and Taren.

‘With the greatest haste,’ Lucian stressed as the mass of angry entities let loose a war cry and hurtled towards them.

Swithin was beyond fed up with being imprisoned. He’d been jailed without charge by everyone at one time or another: the MSS, the USS, the triple-S, the Phemorians, and even his own project! Since
his brother had handed him over to the Phemorians, he’d lost count of the interrogation rooms and cells he’d seen the inside of.

This current holding cell was the pits, and he hadn’t seen or heard from anyone in what seemed like an eternity! He would almost prefer being beaten shitless by Valoureans to this state of affairs. At least they were something good to look at while you were dying.

‘What the fuck have I got to do to get a feed around here?’ he yelled for the umpteenth time from his reclining position on the bunk, wondering if they’d docked somewhere and he’d been left behind to rot. ‘At least this cell has a crapper,’ he consoled himself and closed his eyes to listen to his stomach rumble some more.

‘Not like you to settle for so little.’

Swithin was startled to standing by Khalid’s voice, and was even more startled to see him inside his locked cell. ‘How did you get in here?’

‘You might be more excited to learn how I am going to get you out,’ Khalid proffered.

‘Why would you want to do that?’ Swithin knew Khalid would never act out of the kindness of his heart.

‘How well do you know AMIE’s systems?’ the viceroy asked.

Swithin had a chuckle. ‘Still trying to dispose of any evidence linking you to Maladaan’s disappearance, huh?’

Khalid smiled. He had a plan. ‘I know that Gudrun was the hot shot who snatched Aurora DeCadie from our custody and if he came for her once he’ll come for her again.’

‘I’d say you’re right about that,’ Swithin concurred, understanding the bait but not the trap.

‘But in order to maintain the element of surprise I need to act swiftly,’ Khalid said, pushing for Swithin to commit.

‘Well, seeing as you are the only damn bastard who has spared me a thought lately, I believe I have to accept your proposal,’ Swithin decided and was rather alarmed when Khalid took hold of his arm.

‘Splendid,’ Khalid commented. ‘And try not to throw up.’

‘What?’ Swithin froze, petrified by the force of every molecule in his body being swept away elsewhere.

When Swithin became aware of being whole and stationary once more, he began trembling violently and staggered away from Khalid. ‘You’re one of them,’ he croaked, nearly choking on the fear and trepidation that rushed through him.

‘You’re a genius,’ commented Khalid. ‘Which way to the bridge?’

‘But I’ve seen you torture your own kind,’ Swithin said, still reeling from his rude awakening, ‘you sick fuck.’

‘There is no
my kind
. I’m an
original…
or at least I was before this lot arrived back in civilisation. So, start cooperating, or I’ll implode all your vital organs. Did I mention I’m in a bit of a hurry?’

Just prior to Taren being reunited with her parents, they had given the order for their vessels and AMIE to proceed full speed towards Heavensgate. Jalila had disclosed Khalid’s plan to arrest Anselm, but now that Qusay-Sabah Clarona was his ally, Anselm was eager to return to his capital and ensure that any confusion or threat of rebellion was sorted out quietly and quickly.

When Lucian and Zeven came back with Taren to report that Khalid was incapacitated in the wilderness for a few hours, the president felt he had an even better chance of avoiding an embarrassing incident.

Qusay-Sabah Clarona was relieved to have the cursed crown of her realm returned to her in its case. ‘This is the second time I find myself greatly indebted to you, captain.’

‘Not half as indebted as I am to you for your daughter,’ he replied graciously and the queen was touched by his sentiment.

Anselm chose to overlook Taren’s lack of memory of him and hugged her tight. ‘Praise the ancient powers,’ he said and kissed her forehead.

For the first time, Taren felt in her heart that Anselm was truly her father and she embraced him back. ‘I’m good, truly,’ she told him as she freed herself and looked at the queen, who was obviously restraining her need to hold her daughter.

‘It was the stone you sent me that turned the situation in my favour and bought me some time.’ Taren smiled warmly at her mother, as she pulled the stone from her pocket, using her sleeve as a glove to prevent it making contact with her skin.

The queen’s emotions overcame her, and tossing formality and fear aside she rushed to embrace her child. ‘Thank the universe I did something right.’

‘Oh, I don’t know…I think you’ve done a whole lot right just recently.’ Taren was overwhelmed to be finally holding her mother. ‘Welcome home to yourself,’ she whispered, reducing both of them to tears.

‘That’s a handy little gadget,’ Zeven commented to the captain, interested in looking over the weapon they had retrieved from Khalid. ‘Is it something new the USS came up with?’

‘No,’ the captain said sadly, and handed it to Zeven. ‘Kalayna designed it.’ Lucian nearly choked on his words and Zeven was confused by the captain’s lack of enthusiasm.

‘Kalayna designed
this…
whoa! That’s awesome! Isn’t it?’ The sorrowful look on Lucian’s face made Zeven’s heart sink. His eyes turned once again to the bloodstain on the carpet, and instinctively Zeven knew the blood belonged to Kalayna. ‘What happened?’

Lucian held up both hands in the hope of calming Zeven before he lost his temper. ‘If I tell you what happened, you will wish to seek revenge, and we need you right now.’

Zeven’s jaw clenched as this confirmed that Kalayna had been killed. ‘What happened?’ Zeven repeated, backing up as objects in the room began to quiver.

‘I need you to focus on the problems at hand,’ Lucian repeated more firmly.

‘Zeven, please!’ Taren appealed, whereby the objects threatening to take flight stilled.

‘I’ll find out on my own,’ he stated and he turned his will toward locating Kalayna.

Zeven landed in Kassa’s medical quarters and stared at a body bag. Outside in the waiting room, he could hear Aurora weeping as she conferred with the doctor.

It was difficult to accept that Kalayna was in that bag. He’d brought her back from the brink of death once and had hoped he could do it again.

‘I’ve tried.’ Ringbalin’s comment startled Zeven to about-face, where he found the botanist sitting quietly in a corner. ‘But healing only works on living things. Once the spirit has taken flight the game is up.’

Zeven clenched both fists and his entire body in an attempt to restrain his grief. ‘Who did this?’

Ringbalin was surprised by the question. ‘Did the captain not tell you?’

Zeven’s eyes narrowed as his patience was coming to an end. ‘Who?’ His constrained, hushed tone demanded an answer and Ringbalin sensed he’d best not deny the pilot satisfaction.

‘Khalid Mansur.’

Zeven focused his will on Khalid target, trembling with the conviction that was pulsing through his veins; he’d never wanted to hurt someone so badly in all his born days.

‘I had rather expected you to pop straight off and seek revenge,’ Ringbalin commented when, minutes later, Zeven was still standing before him.

‘So did I,’ Zeven grumbled, confused.

‘Perhaps Khalid has a psychic shield protecting him from being sought by psychic means,’ Balin offered up a possible explanation.

‘What the heck,’ Zeven objected. ‘Nobody ever mentioned there was such a thing.’

‘It usually takes the form of an amulet, or in the case of the Phemorian queen, it took the form of a crown.’

‘An amulet,’ Zeven queried. ‘Like a medallion?’ He didn’t recall spotting any such item around Khalid’s neck.

‘Could be,’ Balin agreed. The pilot threw his hands up in frustration.

‘Do you think such an item would shield him from the effect of the psychic neutraliser as well?’ and with the thought that Khalid might have been faking his disability, Zeven realised leaving Taren had been a mistake. He would have sped straight to her, but Aurora opened the door and saw him.

The girl flung herself into his arms, elated to see him alive and devastated by Kalayna’s death. ‘Please don’t vanish again—’

‘I have to go,’ he was sorry to say as he peeled Aurora off himself. ‘Taren is in danger.’

Kassa, who looked on from the doorway, gave a heavy, sympathetic sigh. She could feel how torn Zeven was, along with Aurora’s fear of losing the man she’d loved for so long and finally won. They both grieved the loss of their intimate friend. And losing two crew members in tragic circumstances was a giant reality check for them all in regard to their own mortality.

‘You’re in danger,’ Aurora appealed, her tears causing her make-up to run black lines down her face. ‘If you must go, take me with you. I hate waiting to see if you’ll come back in one piece next time.’

‘Don’t I always come back in one piece?’ Zeven said in his own defence. Aurora hated that reassuring smile of his, as she had no resistance to it. She allowed him to kiss her, let her hands go and vanish.

‘I thought he’d never leave.’ Khalid’s voice made all present jump.

‘Damn it!’ Lucian grumbled at Zeven’s departure, and then calmed when he realised that, through his spirit contacts, he could probably get the pilot’s arse dragged back to him when required.

‘I could try going after him,’ Taren proffered, although she was still not very confident with her PK abilities. And that was only if she had fully regained her Powers.

‘Let him go. Azazèl will know where to find him.’ Lucian took hold of her shoulders to prevent her disappearing again. ‘Right now, we have about two hours to figure out how we are going to hide you from Khalid.’

‘The triple-S have psychic containment quarters beneath their offices in Heavensgate,’ Anselm offered, moving over to them. ‘These rooms prevent psychics escaping or entering unauthorised—’

‘You’re not going to lock me in some containment area!’ Taren objected.

‘It’s the only place we can possibly hide you from Mansur,’ Anselm insisted.

‘No, it isn’t,’ Taren argued. ‘You never did hear me out about what I want—’

A chime from the door exasperated Taren, and Anselm’s guards entered to let him know that the ship had been given authorisation to dock at Heavensgate.

Anselm thanked and dismissed his men ahead of turning back to Taren. ‘Please can we do this my way, and once you’re safe, I promise I will help you do whatever you want.’

Taren smiled, and looked at her mother who nodded to show that Anselm spoke for her too. ‘I will hold you both to that promise and Lucian is my witness.’

The captain nodded, none the wiser to what she had in mind.

‘Very good.’ Anselm was now eager to get them to their destination. He rounded everyone up and began moving them towards the door. ‘I look forward to hearing what we’ve agreed to, once I have Khalid restrained.’

‘I’ll have my Valoureans go ahead of us,’ the queen suggested.

‘My agents are all psychically gifted and trained,’ Anselm told her proudly.

‘But they are all wearing restraining devices. It will take hours to stabilise their magnetic fields,’ Qusay-Sabah Clarona argued.

‘Fake,’ Anselm smiled sweetly.

‘Why am I not surprised?’ The queen grinned at his cheek, in retrospect. ‘Fortunate that we are on the same side now.’

‘Very fortunate,’ Anselm replied, pausing to admire her, which delayed the departure of the entire party.

Whilst the queen had been meeting with her viceroy, Anselm had been doing some investigative work in the secret service database that stored erased memory. He had been stunned to find that he—‘Jabez Anselm’—had a file. The memory file was over fifty years old and pertained to a six-hour period, the same period during which he had lost his heart to Qusay-Sabah Clarona. It had come as no surprise to him to discover that the memory extraction order had been authorised by Khalid Mansur.

‘It is my great regret that I was not there to save you from the Phemoray, Clarona.’ Anselm now knew that he had called her this as it was the part of her name he liked the most…it meant ‘morning’.

Taren’s heart fluttered to see her parents so smitten with each other, and she felt sure they would have kissed had it not been for present company.

‘I shall never have the wool pulled over my eyes like that again,’ Anselm vowed to his long-lost love.

His words stirred a desire within Taren to ensure her parents’ future happiness and the happiness of all involved in this twisted web of deceit, lies and ancient prejudice. A light-headedness caused Taren’s vision to blur and she staggered.

‘Taren? What is it?’ Lucian grabbed hold to steady her, but she became a dead weight in his arms. ‘She’s going into a trance…
she’s going to change the future…
’

Lucian’s voice did not fade as Taren continued to perceive her present situation from above her inactive form.

‘We’ll have to carry her,’ Anselm suggested.

‘No, we shouldn’t move her, or make a move ourselves,’ Lucian laid Taren down on a lounge. ‘I’ve learned that if Taren goes into trance, something dire is about to happen. Best wait and heed her advice.’

‘And what if she takes hours to awaken?’ Anselm posed. ‘We need to get her to a safe area now.’

‘And miss an opportunity to heed her warning?’ Lucian pushed his view, not prepared to risk it.

At this point, reality split in two: one stream where they waited for Taren to wake; the other where they did not. Taren’s consciousness pursued the time stream of the latter scenario…

When their party disembarked from their craft, they were met by a large contingent of agents and officials from the USS, who were all surprised to see their president disembark from the vessel with the Queen of Phemoria, who had issued the arrest warrant for everyone on board. The queen explained that there had been a huge misunderstanding as Sermetica and Phemoria had been engaged in sensitive political talks on board the vessel and its presence in the Phemoria system had, therefore, not been officially announced. The USS officials present could only be delighted to see the Queen of Phemoria on speaking terms with the President of Sermetica.
Obviously, this held the promise of a better relationship between Phemoria and all the other planets of the USS.

‘Along with my viceroy, Jalila Lamis, the Chairman of the USS and I have been discussing a new democratic future for Phemoria,’ the queen announced. This news was an enormous shock to everyone, but, equally, everyone buzzed with delight.

‘But what of the Phemoray?’ asked a senior official, who’d been dealing with their unusual and threatening demands for decades.

‘The reign of the Phemoray has come to end on Phemoria. They will never return to power for as long as feminine rights are upheld on our planet and throughout the United Star Systems,’ she declared to the USS press, who were there expecting an arrest, not a major political coup. The announcement caused a further frenzy of excitement and amid the turmoil no one heard the sniper’s bullets until the Queen of Phemoria was hit, and seconds later the President of Sermetica dropped dead alongside her.

The gathering at the space dock erupted into pandemonium, while Taren’s consciousness took flight from Heavensgate and sped towards AMIE…no one had noticed it was now headed back towards the inter-system gateway.

On the observation lounge at the rear of the bridge of AMIE, Leal, Kassa, Ringbalin and Aurora were sitting bound and gagged. It was Swithin Gervaise who sat behind the controls and alongside him stood Khalid Mansur.

‘So, only you and I know the code to override the systems now?’ Khalid queried Swithin, who grinned.

‘Correct.’

‘Excellent.’ With a thought, Khalid sent Swithin’s heart into cardiac arrest, and the rest of the crew looked on horrified as Khalid approached to address Aurora. ‘You had better hope your boyfriend notices this ship’s change of course before you pass back through the inter-system gateway. Our sub-station is having a little meltdown today. It seems the exit passage has mysteriously jammed on the Maladaan system.’

Aurora’s eyes parted wide in fear, as did the eyes of her friends and colleagues alongside.

Taren’s perception floated up and away from the space institute and she sped forward into the inter-system gateway that AMIE approached. Upon entering, she was swept up in the vacuum of the ancient quantum tunnels and spat out in the remnants of the Maladaan system; she was immediately swept backward by a wave of energy. After a while, she was sucked forward into the expansive darkness where her home planet had once been located. The passage through this darkness was fleeting, as up ahead there was a quasar-like pulsing of colourful light at the centre of a gap in the darkness that had the appearance of a great glowing eye. The tide carried her through the eye where she was shot out into the universe parallel. The ebb of space nearly drew her back through the eye, but she fought free of the rip and continued along with the flow of invisible matter toward the nearest star system.