Celestial Love (16 page)

“Yes, I almost rolled off the bed when we banked.  I feel a little better but I can't wait to get some real sleep.” Kalea finished just as a yawn caused her to cover her mouth.

“I’m ready to turn in myself.  I’ll walk you to your room.” Bryan said as he extended his elbow to her.  Slipping her hand onto his arm, she gave it a gentle squeeze as they made their way out of the shuttle.

“I see you are in capable hands,” King Douglas commented as they entered the shuttle bay.  As they reached him
, he leaned forward and gave Kalea a kiss on the cheek and said, “Good night, Dear.  I'll see you both in the morning.”  With a wave he headed for the lift and rose out of sight.

Glancing around
, Kalea said, “I'm surprised that more of the family isn't here.”

“They would have been,” Edward said as he came up behind them.  “King Douglas sent a message from the shuttle telling them you were exhausted but otherwise fine
, and that you would see them all tomorrow.”

Smiling
, Kalea silently thanked her father for his thoughtfulness and allowed Bryan to guide her to the lift.  One day soon she would have to remember to show him their private lift but she didn’t feel like dealing with it now.  Edward rode with them and then bowed as he turned and walked away without another word.

With Princess Kalea on his arm Bryan headed for their sitting room.  Entering
, he turned to face her as the door closed softly behind them.  “We are meeting with your father tomorrow for the mid-day meal.  If you would like, we could have breakfast together first, that is if we are awake that early,” Bryan suggested.

Kalea smiled sleepily and nodded before turning and heading through the door to her bed chamber.  ‘Good
night.’ She said via the link as the door closed behind her and she saw that he was still watching her.

‘Good
night.’  Bryan answered to the closed door as he too turned and headed into his room.  He quickly undressed and was soon fast asleep.

8

Linda brought Princess Kalea breakfa
st at 9:00 a.m. only to find her sleeping soundly.  Deciding not to wake her Linda left the breakfast tray of mostly fresh fruits and nuts on the table and slipped out quietly.

Edward, sure that the
prince and princess would be up by 10:30 a.m. was surprised to wake Leo from a sound sleep.  Leo checked the security surveillance system and then peeked through the door just to make sure that the prince was still sleeping.  He was.

After checking with Linda, Edward decided to wake Princess Kalea
, knowing that she would need time to get ready.  Linda slipped in again and this time found the Princess just waking up.

“Good
morning, Linda,” Princess Kalea said as she rolled over to push the remote for the window.  As the curtains pulled back Kalea sat up and asked, “What time is it?”

“Good
morning, Princess.  It is a few minutes after 11:00 a.m.,” Linda answered as Princess Kalea threw back the covers and jumped out of bed.

“Goodness
, I have a meeting with Father over lunch and I was going to eat breakfast with Prince Bryan.  Oh, I just don’t have time!” Princess Kalea said as she dashed into the bathroom for a quick shower.

‘Bryan, I’m
sorry about breakfast.  I overslept,’ Kalea tried to explain over the link only to hear silence.  Waiting a moment she realized he must still be asleep and that made her chuckle.  Quickly she got ready and when she sat down to eat a little of the breakfast, she used her AVID to buzz Prince Bryan.

Linda worked on her wet hair as Kalea buzzed him again and again.  Finally she felt him waking up but she waited until he
activated the AVID to say anything.

“What?” Brya
n growled into the AVID.  Princess Kalea’s laughter filled his mind and ears at the same time.  Her joy at his less than pleasant greeting soothed his irritation faster than a vented cargo hold on a space station.

‘Good
morning,’ Kalea said as she turned off the AVID and began eating again.  ‘It is almost 11:30 and we have a meeting with my Father.  I guess we both overslept.  I’ll save you some of my breakfast if you think you’ll have time to eat it or you can just wait to eat with Father,’ Kalea finished as she felt his tension rise with the realization that they were running late.

‘Thank you for waking me up,’ Bryan replied as he rushed about his morning routine.  He knew why no one else had tried but he still felt like ringing Leo’s neck.  His morning grouchiness was not the impression he had
been hoping to make.

‘As for breakfast, I don’t think I will have time to join you but if you could save me a little something to eat on the way it would help.  I still can’t believe I slept so late,’ Bryan said as he marveled at their ability to have a conversation while he showered and shaved without the sounds of either interfering.

‘Actually, we both overslept,’ Kalea replied. Placing a multigrain blueberry muffin on a napkin, she then added a handful of almonds and some grapes before wrapping it up and setting it beside her tray.  Linda had finished with her hair and it was time to get dressed.  ‘I’m rushing around too, I think it was just such an exhausting day yesterday, we both needed the extra rest.  We could call Father and reschedule the meeting until after lunch if you’d like,’ Kalea offered.

‘No.
This is fine,’ Bryan answered as he tucked in his shirt and tried to find where Leo had put his socks.  ‘I’m almost ready and we still have 10 minutes.’

‘Well, I saved you some food so just let me know when you are ready and I will meet you in the sitting room,’ Kalea answered as she slipped into her shoes and went to gather up the napkin.

Linda gave her a questioning look.  “Prince Bryan didn’t have time for breakfast so I thought he could eat this on the way,” Princess Kalea explained as she headed toward the sitting room door.

Tempted to ask the
Princess how she knew that, Linda stopped suddenly, realizing the answer.  The link.  Pleased and surprised, Linda gathered up the breakfast tray and slipped out of Princess Kalea’s room.

‘I’m…’ Bryan started to share
as he opened up the door to their sitting room only to find Princess Kalea opening hers as well. ‘…ready.’  He finished as he accepted the napkin with a smile that lit his eyes.

‘I thought you might be,’ Kalea answ
ered with a smile of her own.  “Shall we go?” Kalea asked out loud and Bryan nodded, his mouth full of the delicious muffin.

Kalea opened the door to the hallway and they walked in silence as Bryan ate as quickly as he could and
she gathered her thoughts.  This meeting was going to change things, the big question being, which ones?

Arriving at her
father’s office, Kalea glanced over at Bryan to find him slipping the empty napkin into his pocket.  Giving her a wink he dusted off his hands and smiled.  Returning the smile, Kalea opened the door and they walked in together.

“Good
morning Father, Randy,” Kalea said as she noticed her brother pacing in front of the windows.

“Good
morning.”  King Douglas greeted them both and gestured for them to have a seat in the two empty chairs in front of his desk.  “Randolph, would you please stop pacing?  We’re all here now, so you can explain what you’ve learned since yesterday.”

Randolph stopped pacing and looked at his father,
sister and Prince Bryan in silence for a moment before taking a deep breath, he began.  “It is worse than I expected.  The entire city is gone.  The debris is small and most of it was caught up in the oceanic current; and it is being rapidly dispersed.  So far sensors have indicated fragments and chemical pollutants as far as 400 hundred miles out and that was early this morning, less than 24 hours since the explosion.  As we expected, chemical waste as well as debris from the city have polluted the immediate area, but the explosive itself seems to have had some unique chemicals as well.  Some of them we haven’t been able to identify yet and that concerns me even more.”

Without realizing it Randolph had begun to pace again
, but this time, no one really cared as they were focused on the implications of what he had just said.

“You mean that this group brought in
a bomb from off world?” Kalea asked, stunned by this possibility.

“Yes,” Randolph replied as he turned back to them.  “I also fear that the cleanup will take at least a year of constant, directed effort to make sure we gather all the debris and rebalance the
eco system.  This is the most severe eco disruption we have had in two generations.”

The group was silent for a moment and Bryan was grateful for Kalea’s rapid translation over the link especially when he realized that he had
put on the wrong AVID after his shower and this one wasn’t the upgraded one that did translation.  It allowed him to stay with the conversation almost as if he spoke the language.  He also felt her rising tension and frustration as more and more of what Randolph had said was absorbed by them all.

“I will call Leo immediately and have him send Gregory to help you identify those unknown chemicals,” Bryan said and waited for Kalea to translate.  “Gregory is the leading chemical expert on our team. He should b
e able to help you with at least the identification issue.”

Kalea again translated and both King Douglas and Randolph thanked him before he
activated his AVID to call Leo.  He quickly and quietly explained that he needed Gregory and where.  Leo answered and signed off.  That taken care of, the meeting continued.

“Crown Prince Bryan,” Randolph began
, only to have Bryan hold up his hand.

“We’re brothers now Randolph
,” Bryan replied when Kalea started to translate his title.  “Please, call me Bryan.”

With a small half smile
, Randolph nodded and began again.  “Bryan, we are going to have to find someone else to lead the Environmental Restoration team to your world.  I can’t possibly leave right now. I have several trusted assistants, but the potential complications this disaster could cause just can’t be delegated.”

Bryan had known this was coming once he understood that the bomb
, or some part of it came from off world.  The possibilities were vast but the necessary investigation had serious implications.  He also knew that politically Saxionias expected a member of one of the three royal families of Estar Beta to lead the Environmental Restoration teams that were to be arriving in little over a week.  He’d checked into the agreement more closely after hearing of Randolph’s original plans.

“According to our agreement,” Bryan began and paused regularly for Kalea to translate.  “A member of one of the
royal families is required to lead the Environmental Restoration teams on Saxionias.  Is there any other member of the Royal families who is qualified?”

King Douglas and Randolph both looked at Kalea but neither of them spoke.  Technically she was the only
other Royal with qualifications that even came close.  She had originally volunteered to go, but because of the social environment on Saxionias regarding women, Randolph had been chosen.

No one said anything
. Bryan started to wonder what was going on, when he realized the King seemed to be waiting on Kalea.  Understanding dawned, and he too started to speculate about the possibility of Kalea leading the teams on his world.

Kalea
, in the meantime, was trying to honestly evaluate whether or not she could lead the investigation and eco recovery teams on Saxionias.  It was possible, but she knew that Randolph would truly be better at the investigation side of it than she would.  He had more off world contacts and though she was highly qualified in eco system recovery, he had more years of experience, specifically with oceanic Eco systems. 

Standing
, Kalea walked over to the window and looked out over the ravine before her.  The light and shadows on the rocks and the rich greens of the valley further down.  ‘Holy One, what should I do?’ she prayed. ‘You know all that has happened and all that will happen.  You know who would be best to stay behind and who should go to Saxionias.  I am willing to go where You lead.  I must admit that if I go to Saxionias, I wonder if it will cause more harm than good.’

Time slipped by and Kalea didn’t move.  She didn’t talk or communicate with Bryan over the link.  But Bryan could feel her tension slip away and he marveled at the sweet peace that seemed to fill her.  Glancing around
, he found King Douglas and Randolph both watched Kalea but neither spoke.

Finally Kalea turned around.  Her face was serious but not tense
. Both King Douglas and Randolph seemed to lean forward in anticipation of what she was going to say.

“I will go to
Saxionias,” Kalea said and then repeated herself over the link to Bryan.

King Douglas nodded and Randolph looked almost relieved.  Stepping forward
, he hugged his sister and whispered in her ear, “I know it won’t be easy, but I really feel that I need to stay here and handle this myself.  Thank you.”

Kalea gave him a squeeze and then stepped out of his embrace and looked to her father.  “This will complicat
e things greatly.  With Randy working on the SC-17 disaster and Gilbert going back to the space ports with the defense evaluation teams from Saxionias, who will assist the planetary evaluation teams?  Edward is needed here and the Royal Council needs to have a valid presence among the teams.”  Pacing, she repeated everything to Bryan over the link.

“Also, there is the matter of working everything out with
Saxionias.  They might not accept me as the leader of the Environmental Restoration teams because I’m a woman.  They also might feel that we are not giving them our best effort.”  Repeating this to Bryan Kalea added, ‘How big a problem do you think this will cause?’

King Douglas and Randolph both looked to Bryan without even knowing she had asked the question.  Taking a moment
, Bryan tried to run a few scenarios of his own.  Finally he answered.  “Princess Kalea is right on several points, but I think we can work around some of them.  The easiest way would be for me to return with her to Saxionias. I can help explain the situation and sooth some of the concerns that might arise.”  Waiting for Kalea to translate, he considered what this would mean for Estar Beta as well.

“However,” he continued.  “That would leave you without a
royal to supervise my evaluation teams that are already here.  There are a few others that I could send to take my place, but, they wouldn’t be royals.  I mean, Saxionias could send another royal, but I am the most qualified in my field, just like Randolph.”

When Kalea finished translating
, King Douglas didn’t say anything.  Just then, there was a knock on the door and King Douglas’ assistant, Henry, entered at his call.

“Your Majesty, I have a gentleman whom Edward claims you summoned.  His name is Gregory,” Henry said respectfully
, as he blocked the opened door with his body in case the King hadn’t summoned the man.

“Yes, that’s fine Henry, send him in,” King Douglas answered.

Gregory, a tall lanky young man, stepped into the room and bowed deeply before the entire group.  Clean cut and well pressed, he look almost military in his appearance.  He didn’t say a word, but simply stood before the group.