Finding Jess (First Wave) (5 page)

“You really need a chance to wake
up and acclimate yourself as well. So how about you take a long shower, change
into something you would like to wear and have some breakfast? After that you
can meet with High Councilor Ivint Torenson and Councilor’s Lakatis and Macner.
Deal?” Cari didn’t think there was anything so important that she couldn’t at
least get a shower and eat something first. Besides it was still pretty early,
and the Councilor’s were probably just waking up anyway.

“If you think it can wait…” Jess
said looking longingly at the shower.

“Of course it can. I’ll leave you
to shower and get some breakfast for you and meet you back in your room when you’re
done.” Cari kissed her cheek and left the room with Gibly, the door shutting
behind them.

Jess looked around the incredibly
clean room with wonder. Everything was so amazing. And clean. She could never
keep anything clean at the camp, not even herself. No matter how much she
tried. And there was hot water too; another rare thing in her life.

She quickly set the water to a
comfortable temperature and undressed. The first thing she noticed was the long
scar across her abdomen where she’d been cut was nothing more than a scratch
and nearly gone. Searching other areas of her body, she noticed that almost all
of her scars were either in some stage of healing or completely gone.

She rubbed at the healing scar on
her stomach as the tears misted her eyes again at the miracle of never having
to be reminded of that part of her life by the scars. It was really wonderful
of Amun to be so thorough in trying to heal her. And she’d scared him away with
her tears. She vowed to apologize to him the next time she saw him.

Jess knew she had taken a really
long time in the shower; she’d washed her hair and body three times, and tried
to dress quickly to make up some time. She grabbed a pair of pants and was
pleasantly surprised to see that they had wide legs that would easily conceal
her ugly legs and be comfortable. She quickly put on a soft, long-sleeved white
shirt and brushed the few tangles out of her long hair.

Her hair had been a mess when she
had been saved, whoever had untangled that mess had to have had a lot of
patience, she thought putting the brush back in the drawer. She would find out
who had taken such care of her and thank them later.

Straightening her shoulders she
went out of the door, keeping her steps small in order not to lose her balance and
fall. Cari and Amun were waiting for her by a table near the door with two
chairs around it.

“You look so beautiful! Come have
breakfast with me.” Cari said with a beaming smile.

Glancing at Amun, Jess could see
that he looked tired, but the smile that broke his face when he saw her made
him look beautiful to her. He looked like he’d also showered and changed his
clothes, and Jess wondered if he smelled as nice as the stuff she used in her
shower, or if he used something stronger and manly.

His eyes never left her as he
walked towards her and gently put his arm around her back and leaned into her
just enough to take some of her weight from her legs, so she could walk easier.

“Thank you Amun... for everything
you’ve done for me. There are no words to express how thankful I am to you.”
Jess said smiling up into his face.

“I will do everything I can to make
you happy and ease your suffering; I promise. I am truly sorry if my
thoughtless actions earlier hurt you in any way. Please forgive me.” Amun had
stopped and stood in front of her as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes.

The smell of her drove his body
insane, his mind fighting to retain control of himself. She looked incredible
in the light-blue pants and white shirt he had had made for her.

“There is nothing to forgive. I
have so much to learn, and I should have handled that much better than I did. I
am sorry.” Jess breathed deeply of him while he stood so close to her, the
musky scent of him filling her nose and teasing her senses. He smelled so good
that she wanted to lean in closer to him.

“Never apologize to me for
something that was not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for, Amalaya.”
Amun said gently brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face and behind her
ear. His gentle touch sent a shiver down her spine.

“Need food. Time to eat.” Gibly
said, interrupting before Jess could reply.

“Yes, you need to eat. For a few
days, I need to keep you on a blander than normal diet as your body heals. I
would like you to eat as much as you can every time; but not so much that you
get sick. Your body needs the nutrients to help speed up your natural healing
abilities.” Amun led her the rest of the way to the table where Cari was
already seated and waiting. He held out her chair and helped her sit down
before scooting her closer to the table. He treated her so kindly and gently
that Jess felt like one of those princesses in the stories her mother used to
tell her about when she was a child.

Removing the cover over the dish,
her mouth watered at the smell of the food on the plate. There were sliced
potatoes, fresh eggs, not the powdered kind she was used to eating; a bowl of
oatmeal and cut up pieces of fruit. There was so much food and to choose from
that she didn’t know where to begin.

Looking up she saw that Cari had
the same thing on a plate in front of her and watched as she scooped some eggs
onto her fork and took a bite. Thinking that was a good a place as any to
start, she did the same. She barely stopped the moan at the taste of the eggs.
They were so fluffy and warm. Since she had only been allowed to eat whatever
was left over from feeding everyone else, she couldn’t ever remember eating
anything warm.

Before she knew it, she had eaten
all the eggs and had tried a bite of everything on the tray before her stomach
became too full, and she sat back with a contented sigh.

“Are you sure you can’t eat any
more, Amalaya?” Amun asked, the concern evident in his voice.

“Oh, no way. I’m so full I would
definitely get sick if I had one more bite. But I promise I’ll finish it later
if you leave it here.” Jess said quickly, not sure if they would take it away
from her for not finishing it. Everything had been so good that she wouldn’t
mind eating any of it cold.

“I want you to eat different things
for lunch and dinner to make sure you get enough nutrients. I’ll leave the
fruit and other snacks in here for you in case you get hungry though.” Amun
said removing the tray and putting it into an opening in the wall that hadn’t
been there before.

“Thank you.” Jess said suddenly
feeling a little shy and overwhelmed at the thought of having different things
to eat more than once a day. How many different foods were there?

“We have an hour before you meet
the council, would you like Amun to explain some of your treatments to you?”
Cari asked putting her own tray into the disposal chute.

“I honestly don’t think I could
wrap my mind around it yet. What I mean is that I don’t think I know enough to
be able to grasp the most basic part of it. But when I do understand things
better, I would love to learn about how you were able to heal me. You have no
idea how much it meant to me, not to see some of those scars again.” Jess felt
like she’d said too much and lowered her head to hide the blush she knew was
staining her heated cheeks.

“We have more than enough time to
discuss some of that later. Why don’t you tell me how you feel this morning?”
Amun leaned down in front of her and began scanning her body while he waited
for her to answer.

“I feel amazing. I don’t know the
last time that I have ever felt this wonderful.”

That told him a lot about how much
she had endured, since she had two organs failing and still needed much more
healing. How little she had eaten before becoming full worried him though. It
was going to take longer than he thought to get her to be able to eat properly
on her own. He sent the command to the computer to increase her nutrient intake
in her medibands for later tonight.

He had been unsure if he should
have stayed while she’d eaten, not wanting to embarrass her if she didn’t know
how to use utensils. However, he was slightly surprised when she not only used
the utensils, but ate with impeccable manners, and he wondered how that was
possible considering the conditions of how she had grown up. Now was not the
time to ask her such things though.

Standing up he took a chair and
joined the women at the table and listened while Cari began to talk to Jess
about the ship and other things she didn’t know while they waited to talk to
the council members.

He watched in rapt attention to
every expression she made, how she moved, the softness of her voice and the
gentle movements of her hands. The soft lilt of her laughter sent chills
humming through his body, making him painfully hard, but he couldn’t make himself
leave the room. Everything about her captivated him and the time flew by until
it was time to meet the council. 

Chapter
Four

“The Council is ready, Amun. Please
bring Jess to the conference room.” The announcement over the comm startled
Jess for a moment, but she recovered quickly.

Amun stood up and held his hand out
to Jess. Cari had explained while they were talking why men did such a thing,
and she gingerly placed her hand in his large, warm one. The butterflies in her
stomach took flight at the contact, and she looked down shyly hoping no one
noticed how much his touch affected her.

She held tightly to Amun’s arm when
they left her room in MedLab, and she saw the large, empty corridor they
stepped into. Switching out his arms Amun put one around her waist and the
other held her hand, giving her the ability to lean more heavily on him as she
walked.

Amun and Cari matched her much
slower pace and used the long walk to the conference room as an opportunity to
explain things about the ship. They had effectively kept her occupied enough to
keep her mind off of the meeting with the council until they reached the door
to the room.

“Are you sure you are ready for
this?” Amun asked her as he stopped in front of the closed door.

Jess straightened her shoulders and
nodded her head to Amun, grateful for his show of concern but ready to get this
over with.

“You’re going to be fine honey. The
High Councilor is my mate’s father; Caretia is my great mother, and Duncar is
my uncle Randor’s father. All of them are so grateful that you saved my life.
You have nothing to be worried about in there. And I’ll be with you the whole
time.” Cari said trying to help alleviate some of Jess’s obvious nervousness.

“I’ll be with you as well, and
Gibly is already in there.” Amun squeezed her arm gently and gave her a bright
smile as he led her into the room. At the conference table, were Ivint, Duncar,
Caretia, Scaden, Reven, Gracus, Niklosi and Lagor. 

He tightened his arm around Jess’s
waist when she stopped in her tracks right inside the door and looked around
her with surprise and a little fear.

“Child, I am very glad to see you
looking so well today. Are you feeling better?” Caretia said as she got up from
the table and came over to give her a quick hug.

“Yes, I am very well, thank you.”
At Amun’s urging Jess followed Caretia back to the table and took the seat that
she had gestured to with her hand.

She gave Amun a beautiful smile of
thanks when he took the seat next to her and Cari the one across from her.

“I am High Councilor Ivint Torenson
of the planet Valendra. This is Councilor Duncar Macner and Councilor Caretia
Lakatis. On this side of the table is Reven Debreskii, my military commander.
Gracus Adrastor is the second commander of the ship Adaria, which you are
currently on. Scaden is the commander of Adaria and is Cari’s mate and my son.
Niklosi Jevasari is the leader of the tact team that rescued you.” Each person
nodded their heads to her as they were introduced allowing her to put the name
to their faces.

“And this is Lagor Ratroya; he is
the engineering commander of the ship Draconia, which is in orbit with us.”
Ivint waited for a moment to see if there any hint of recognition on her part
of at least the name. When Amun gave a slight shake of his head, Ivint
continued.

“I was told that you wanted to
speak with us? Please feel free to say whatever you need to say in confidence
among those present.”

Taking a deep breath to steady her
nerves, Jess began to tell them everything she and Julou had agreed they needed
to know.

“I memorized the full names of all
the women and girls that I’ve seen prior to their escape. I even memorized
certain features about each of them and their gifts.”

“That is wonderful news! How many
did you see?” Cari asked excitedly, hoping there were a lot more girls out
there like them.

“I don’t know my numbers… I don’t
know how many there are.” Jess hid her face in embarrassment.

“Like Cari, they were all smart
enough to save themselves. I only helped out when I could.” Jess said quietly.

“I couldn’t have survived my
injuries without you Jess. Amun can vouch for that. I would have died without
you. You did save my life and most likely a lot of others.” Cari said
reassuringly.

“How did they know we were there to
get you?” Niklosi asked the question that had been eating at him.

“They detected your tracking device
not long after we had left. After they had contacted their commander, they
decided to leave it and let you track them, so that they could track you while
they set up a trap.” Jess responded honestly.

“They’ve had the ability to contact
their home world all this time?” Scaden asked.

“I only know that they have been
able to do it since I’ve been with them. Julou said that they had been able to
since they first crashed here. He was brought in from their home world not long
after they realized the extent of the resources on the planet.”

“Who is Julou?” Amun asked between
gritted teeth. He didn't like the way her voice softened when she spoke the
name.

“Julou V’Dua is a captive from the
planet Katavai. He was a mineral specialist on his planet, and the Relians have
used his knowledge to help them on planets with heavy minerals. Because they
think he no longer fights his service to them and has sworn his allegiance,
they allow him into their confidence.”

“He’s one of the things I need to
tell you about. Julou and many other captives from other planets have staged a
revolt on Earth. They have been working against the Relians in secret to keep
them from seizing control of the planet. It’s Julou and a few others that
helped me get the other girls to safety. They have also been able to get others
released from other camps as well.”

“They would like to open a dialog
with you in the hopes of forming an alliance to remove the Relians from the
planet and free themselves from their enslavement.”

“How do you know this child?” Ivint
pondered the implications of having an established ally on the planet to help
them.

“Julou and the others had been planning
this for a long time. The Relians knew that sooner, or later you’d end up back
on the planet. Either because of their development or because you’d realize you
had survivors. They had hoped to have control by then, but Julou and the others
have been sabotaging their efforts for a long time.”

“Once you showed up and Cari was
rescued; he knew it was only a matter of time before you came for me or to
destroy them. So he and the others planned for me to be taken and to try to set
up a meeting.” 

“How the hell were you supposed to
do that with your throat cut and bleeding to death?” Amun growled angrily while
he clenched his fists in rage.

“No, I wasn’t supposed to die. We
studied a medical book Julou found to make sure he didn’t kill me. He was only
trying to make it look real enough that they wouldn’t have someone else do it
or come looking for me. They already planned to kill me; it just worked in
their favor to do it in front of you to try to scare you into leaving. It also
gave Julou a chance to get me out of there.”

Amun was surprised when Jess
flashed angry eyes at him as she defended her tormentor. He’d heard of this
particular attachment captives got with their abductors but had never seen it
before now. Even the Earth people had a name for it… Stockholm syndrome.

“So he wasn’t trying to kill you,
but he almost did? That beast who dragged you out of the barn that day?” Cari
asked incredulous that Jess would defend that pig.

“He only did that to protect me! He
would hide me where he slept and keep me warm and safe from the others. The
only time I was ever hurt was when he wasn’t there to stop it. If it wasn’t for
his help, the other girls could never have escaped. He and the others like him
have been trying to help us for years. They know what it’s like; their families
have been slaughtered or worked to death, their planets destroyed. They have
nothing to lose by helping.” Jess tried desperately to make them understand
that Julou’s plight was the same as their own. They were victims of the Relians,
just as she was.

“Jess, there’s no way I can look at
your injuries and believe you were only hurt when he wasn’t around.” Randor
tried to say it as kindly as he could, but he just couldn’t believe that this
Julou was as benevolent as she was leading them to believe.

“No, Julou didn’t come to the camp
until a few years ago. I was by myself with the camp until he arrived.
Everything changed when he got there and realized I was one of your children.
He made everyone in the camp think that he made me his personal slave. Being
bigger and stronger than the others, they didn’t argue with him.”

“They only hurt me when they knew
he’d be gone for a few hours. But we couldn’t do anything about it without them
figuring out he wasn’t working with them anymore. It was worth it just to know
how much damage they were doing to the Relians plans. To feel like in some way
I was helping by helping others escape them.”  

“If he could help the others
escape, why didn’t he help you escape before now?” Amun asked angrily. He didn’t
believe that this Julou creature was really a friend to anyone, especially not
to Jess.

“There was really nowhere I could
go until Julou had come. I didn’t know anything about the outside world until
he came and started to teach me. He wanted to take me out of there all the
time, but I wouldn’t go. Where the other girls were going, they could help save
others and be of some use. There was nothing I could do there to help them. But
I could if I stayed. Besides, if I had ever escaped, they would have known Julou
was responsible, and they would have killed him.” Jess knew that if she could
just get them to talk to Julou that they would be able to see why they needed
to trust him and work with him and his people.

“Where were the other girls going?”
Reven asked curiously, this whole development was fascinating to him. He wasn’t
sure what to think about this Julou character, but the prospect of more allies
was very appealing now that they knew the Relians had a major presence in the
area.

“One of the girls they captured was
Truennia Demetrios. While she was there she told me about how her father had
found others like us and had taught them to fight and use their gifts to fight
against the Relians. She said that when I could help others escape I could give
them a way to contact her, and she’d help them.” Jess wasn’t sure why she was
starting to feel so tired. She’d woken up feeling better than she ever had;
she’d eaten wonderful food and hadn’t had to slave over the others in the camp,
so she had no idea why she felt this way.

“That must be Banatar’s daughter.
Do you know how to get hold of Banatar?” Randor added, referring to Banatar
Demetrios, he had been on the outpost with him.

“No, I never had a reason to know.
But Julou knows how to get him since he works with his people often.” Jess
answered.

“What does Julou and his people
want in return for their allegiance?” Ivint knew there had to be something that
they wanted in return and was suspicious of their intentions.

“Peace. Their world’s and families
destroyed, they have nowhere to go. Certain continents here remind them of
their home worlds, and they just want to get the Relians off the planet and
live in peace. They don’t even want revenge anymore. When they found out that
the majority of the Relian forces were prisoners like them, they couldn’t
continue to stay angry at them all when they were just like them. And more and
more of them are turning towards the rebellion every day. It’s why they are
losing control of everything. Even some of their own have gone rogue and are
working with Julou and his people.”

Jess knew what she was saying was
hard to believe, but it was true. Everything in her believed it and trusted
Julou. He had been like a father to her, and she loved him and wanted him and
the others like him to find peace. These people weren't prisoners of the
Relian's; they didn’t know what it was like just to want the one thing they
probably took for granted. Peace. A day without fear, without worry or pain and
the threat of death. They just sat there looking strangely at each other. The
longer they resisted accepting Julou’s help, the more she questioned if coming
here had been the right thing to do.

“I think we’ll table the discussion
about Julou until we can discuss this together. I’m sure you can understand
that finding out that the Relians are here has surprised us greatly, and we
need to figure out our plans from where we stand. We will let you know tomorrow
our decision regarding contacting him.”

“Can you tell us a little about
your gift? Do you know anything about it? I’m truly fascinated by the fact that
you were able to craft something that has given speech to a creature from
another world.” Ivint tried to soften the blow of the rejection by asking a
sedate question. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to trust the girl and this
Julou, but there was far too much happening right now to make a snap decision.

“I don’t know anything about how it
works.” Jess had to stop herself from gritting her teeth in anger. Years of
being slapped or punched for doing it helped her hide the tell-tale sign of
anger quickly. Why didn’t they want to talk to him? Just talk?