Deviation (21 page)

She glanced at the broccoli cluster of computers as they passed it, then looked for the elevator that had brought her down here.

"There are guards at the exit, Mrs. Woodson," her guide said. "We may not be allowed to shoot you, but I promise that my girls are trained. They can take you down."

Kate's pride ruffled at the comment but she chose to remain silent. She'd learned a long time ago that it was an advantage when an enemy underestimated her. And, if she was honest with herself, there were too many armed women around. If she needed to, she could do some damage, but in the end it would be fruitless. She'd still be stuck, and likely wounded, so it was best to keep calm and wait.

They made a quick pace to the opposite side of the chamber where several tables and benches were set up. Eanmar, Kate recognized the puckered face, met them at one table.

"Captain Bonsway," Eanmar nodded to her guide.

The so-called Captain bowed to Eanmar, who nodded once, dismissing Bonsway from their company. Kate watched the armored woman leave to take up a guard post near the computer cluster, then refocused on Eanmar. The tall, red-robed woman gestured to the empty table and Kate moved to sit down. D-FAC, her mind registered. They must be sitting in the Dining Facility, though it wasn't enclosed from the rest of the chamber.

Long minutes of uncomfortable silence settled at their table as a woman delivered a tray full of food to Kate. This woman, Kate noticed, had no apparent abnormalities, but walked with a severe limp. She felt bad enough for the girl that she almost stood up to help her carry the tray, but Eanmar stopped her with a hand. Kate stayed sitting, obedient and disgruntled, while the serving girl arranged plate, glass, and fork neatly before her.

With another nod of her head, Eanmar dismissed the girl, and Kate realized with some trepidation that Eanmar held no small amount of power in the Temple. She imagined that being Celeocia Prosser's right hand placed the woman as a sort of "First Sergeant" rank. If, of course, they were discussing enlisted soldier's ranks, which they weren't, but at least Kate felt like she was on an even kilter with the hierarchy of the Temple now.

"The Priestess has asked me to tell you my story," Eanmar said.

By the flat tone of her voice, Kate knew this was less than pleasing for her breakfast companion. Out of respect, Kate chose not to touch the food in front of her, though the familiar sight of scrambled eggs and toast made her stomach growl.

"She believes it will help you sympathize with our plight," Eanmar sat down beside her and nodded to the food. "Please eat while I relay the facts to you, Mrs. Woodson."

Kate picked up her fork and forced herself not to look at the woman beside her. She didn't like eating alone, especially while being observed, but knew her body needed the fuel. The eggs were bland and the toast had no butter, but at least it was warm.

"My father died when I was young, but he made certain I had a respectable dowry. When I came of age, my brother arranged my marriage to one of his friends, a man by the name of Hans Jacobson." Eanmar spoke matter-of-factly, her body poised beside Kate, so still that it was a wonder the woman was breathing. "On my wedding night, Hans removed my face veil for the first time. Upon seeing my disfigurement, he left the room. It was the last time I ever saw him."

Kate lowered her fork and closed her eyes. Her heart ached at the hollowness in Eanmar's voice, and she felt absolutely ashamed by her own reaction to the woman. She'd stared, she knew she had, horrified by the twisted features. Kate couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be on the other end of that stare, to be gawked at and avoided by the people around her.

Was this why Reesa did it? Had her friend deliberately chosen to alter women in an effort to confront human vanity? Was it meant to force them all to look past the skin, to really look beyond the societal definition of beauty and into the woman herself?

Even as she hoped this was the case, Kate knew she was at least partially wrong. Reesa's books only barely mentioned women. The disfigurement was a side note, a detail of the world and not the focus.

But, oh, Kate thought as she opened her eyes again, what a careless detail it was.

"My brother Jarem brought me to the Novo Femina consulate on Earth the next day. He had forced Hans to return my dowry as the marriage was never consummated." Eanmar finally shifted in her seat, turning to look at Kate. "Jarem is a good man. Still, even he could see there was little hope in another marriage for me. He said the Temple was the safest place and left me with my dowry to do with as I pleased."

"I'm ... " Kate stopped herself from apologizing. She wanted to; the compassionate side of her wanted to run out and find this Hans idiot and teach him a lesson in manners. But beating Eanmar's ex-husband into a whimpering pulp wouldn't help anything. In fact, Kate thought as she pushed a bit of egg around her plate, there was nothing she could do to help any of the women here. "Maybe Reesa can do something."

"Perhaps," Eanmar said. "Though I doubt it very much."

"The High Priestess seems to think ... "

"The High Priestess is looking for something to prove the Makeem in the wrong, nothing more. Reesa will only be able to spur us into war."

"But ... why would you want to go to war?" Kate felt her heart flutter at the idea. She'd been trained to fire a weapon, she knew how to fight, but that certainly didn't mean she would go looking for a war.

Eanmar frowned and looked away. The movement placed the serene side of her face in Kate's view, almost blotting out the evidence of genetic manipulation.

"Change only ever comes about with bloodshed," she said after a moment. "Perhaps we will all die in the fight, but it will be a fight that sparks movement into our race. The Community will be forced to choose a side. There will be no more straddling fences, no more compromise."

"But compromise is the only way to ... "

"Compromise is the death of freedom. It means we must bow to the whims of another. It means we must wear robes and hide our faces for the sake of keeping the peace." Eanmar stood suddenly, and Kate shifted to watch the woman, uncertain of what to do. "Make no mistake, Kate Woodson. We will fight, and we will die. But for once, we will do it with dignity and pride."

"The Community passed the Anti-Evangelism Law today. Gregory Martin, current head of the World Scientific Community, has issued the following statement in regards to the controversial decision; "This law is not meant to say you cannot choose a life of faith. If you desire to practice the traditions of your individual cultures, you are welcome to. But you must do so in the privacy of your own home.
" - A.P. April 16, 2462

Reesa hugged the cotton sheet to her body and tried to wrap her mind around her current situation. Thousands of "day after" scenes took place with one of the members holding a sheet around their body, wondering where their clothes had got off to. The problem for her was that she knew exactly where her clothes were. She could see them strewn around the plush chair sitting beside the window and she could remember - with blushing clarity - how each piece had gotten there.

Matthew had left early in the morning. Like most ambitious men, he was an early riser. He had kissed her temple before leaving, she could remember that much.

Some Higher Power had to be making fun of her.

The complications as to why and how and what it meant that she had married a character she had created warred in her mind. What exactly did that say about her anyway? Self-love? The ultimate conceit? The fact that she'd spent the last three years single, dating only when Kate had insisted she do so didn't seem to help.

And then there was the problem of Jake. Had she been holding Jake on her wedding night, dreaming it was him, or had she really be making love to Matt?

Staring at the dark blue robe draped over the arm of the chair, Reesa frowned. If Matt was fiction, then she must have been writing him in an effort to get closer to Jake. Or her own adaptation of who she wanted Jake to be, anyway.

Her mind snagged on a memory of Jake at a New Year's Eve party. They'd shared one kiss that night and Jake had made certain it never happened again. He'd made his feelings on the matter quite apparent, avoiding all personal communication with her and speaking to her only on a professional level. It had hurt a bit, but Reesa had silently acquiesced to his wishes, letting the moment fade into their history without speaking on it.

But then, he'd taken a bullet for her.

Had that been his sense of nobility or something more? Had she inadvertently written Matthew Borden to love her because she had sensed that love from Jake? Or was it just because she had hoped for that love from him?

Flopping back on the bed with a groan, Reesa decided she could dissect the situation later. When she'd at least eaten breakfast, she thought.

The door to the room opened and Matthew stepped in. He smiled at her, suave and calm and all thoughts of Jake seemed to vanish. She heard the hiss of magnets closing behind him as he walked to her, making a swift, fluid movement of leaning down and kissing the side of her neck. His hands braced on either side of her head, his nose grazing the side of her jaw as he kissed his way back to her face and for a moment Reesa forgot about the trouble he represented.

Smiling, she tilted her head to allow him better access and stretched under his body. He leaned into her, hard and warm, his mouth trailing over her exposed collarbone. She felt his teeth lightly scrape her skin and her mind went dizzyingly blank. His lips skimmed up her neck, brushing her jaw, aligning him back to her mouth again. Reesa held onto him, her heart skittering in her chest as he kissed her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Borden," he said with a grin.

Reesa smiled back. Whatever trepidation she might have felt over his motivations for marrying her had been lost in the night. There was something here between them, she just couldn't define it.

Matthew kissed her temple and helped her to her feet. "Come, get ready. There are several things we have to do to prepare. First and foremost," he stopped mid-sentence to blink at her.

Reesa paused as well, wondering what had caught his attention before she realized that her hold on the sheet had slipped and a rather large amount of her skin was on display for him. She found it highly flattering that he stared at her until she had managed to wrap the sheet more securely around her person. She fumbled a bit as she made her way to her clothes, then quickly donned them; underdress, outer robe, cloth girdle-thing that tied in the front - she really should have paid more attention to the details of what she made women wear.

When she noticed that Matt was still watching her, she blushed. She was out of her element with the aspect of love and romance. Every relationship she'd had ended with the other party declaring her "emotionally distant" and "unreachable." Frowning, she ran her fingers over the soft linen of her robe and tried to dislodge the accusing voices in her head. Reesa began to fold the sheet and he resumed his speech, his voice coming out somewhat hoarse.

"First and foremost we need to anticipate where the Lothogy is going," he said. "Though I think you are going to say they will head for the Temple again."

"Likely."

"That will be troublesome." He grunted and walked to her. With a fluid move he took the sheet from her hands and tossed it back at the bed. "We have employees who can deal with the bedding. Tell me what you like for breakfast."

"Coffee." Reesa said, feeling awkwardly chastised. He gave her a hard look and she added, "Some sort of toast?"

"Better." Matthew walked to the doorway and pressed his thumb to a dark, silky pad just at shoulder level. "Not excellent, but better."

"Yes, Sir?" A voice chimed into the room.

"Coffee. Toast."

"Yes, sir."

He slid his fingers over the pad and a view screen took over the window, bringing up the Dailey News Feed mid-report. Reesa saw Kate on the screen before she'd even heard the report and gasped. A knot formed in her stomach and she felt the world tilt. She grabbed onto the closest, most sturdy object, which turned out to be Matthew's arm, and kept herself upright. He was frowning at the news screen with almost as much alarm as she felt. The headline flashed again, drowning out the voice of the anchorman discussing the newest announcement from the Novo Femina Temple. "Absolution for Women" it read. "A New Hope for the Rise of Women's Rights."

And there was Kate, standing to the right of Priestess Celeocia as she made the public announcement of a pure, unaltered female. Shocked, Reesa managed to recognize that Kate was unharmed and looking fairly angry about the entire situation. Hedric was beside her on the stage, his features surprised as his mother continued to proclaim the need for Commonwealth Law to be renegotiated.

"There is forgiveness in the eyes of God," Celeocia stated in that clear, robotic voice. "Mankind must follow His lead!"

Matt shook his head at the screen. "The Makeem will not tolerate this."

"It's political warfare," Reesa agreed. "I made the two groups at odds because I wanted more tension for the Field Arcs to have to negotiate with. I never intended for them to cross the boundary into real war, it would split humanity again."

Matt gave her a rueful glance. "We are already split, Reesa. Some of us just haven't chosen a side."

Reesa inwardly blessed him for not drawing attention to the fact that she'd just claimed to have created the galaxy again. She was going to have to watch her mouth.

Shots were fired on the screen and the Temple became a swarming mass of screaming people. Reesa choked, her knuckles going white under the strain of clutching Matthew's arm. A male voice shouted through the chaos that man would never fall again and then something exploded to the left of the stage. The cameraman managed to duck and realign within seconds but the stage was empty. Celeocia, Hedric and Kate were gone.

Reesa lost track of the news report, her head swimming with fear and shock to the point that she nearly fell over. Matt caught her, firm hands drawing her to the seat nearest the window. She heard him move through the room and order something into the intercom again but didn't quite understand it. And then he crouched in front of her, his strong features lined with concern as he stared up into her face. His hand was cool when he pressed it to her forehead and she knew, deep down she just knew, that he was checking for fever.