Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3) (9 page)

“All right,”
Rayne said. 
“It feels like they’re about to move me now.”

Wolef heard the fear in her voice and tried to think of a way to abate it.  “
Have you considered how best to present yourself to the Doftle once the paralytics wear off?”

“No,”
Rayne replied. 
“You have though, haven’t you?”

“I confess that I have,”
Wolef replied. 
“I believe it would be wise to behave as though you have some level of mental impairment.  Enough that you don’t react to anything they do, but not so much that you’re incapable of performing minor tasks, such as feeding yourself.”
 

“You want me to put them off guard,”
Rayne said thoughtfully. 
“To make them think I’m the absolute least of their problems.”

“Precisely,”
Wolef replied
.  “Would you be willing to do that?”

“Why do you sound doubtful?”

“Because I’ve heard the Doftle mention that you have a history of being somewhat unpredictable,”
Wolef replied.

“I’m not sure I deserve that,”
she said with just a trace of irritation. 

“No?”

“No,”
she replied emphatically. 
“After all, if you lock a person in a room, torture her for a month, then leave a scalpel within arm’s reach, I think it’s incumbent upon you to expect her to use it.  So no,
unpredictable
is definitely not deserved.”

Rayne heard a deep rumbling sound that reminded her of rocks grinding together and smiled to herself, glad that she’d made Wolef laugh.

Chapter 5

The first thing Rayne saw when she woke up from her nap was her mother’s face mere inches from her own.  Her eyes immediately welled up.  “Hi Mom,” she whispered.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Lariah said.  Her emerald eyes were a little too bright, but otherwise she appeared calm and composed.  “You’re looking a bit worse for wear.”

“I know, but I’m still alive,” Rayne said.  “I’ve decided to focus on that since it appears to have been something of an accomplishment.”

“Good idea,” Lariah said.  She leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, then pulled something from her pocket and held it up. 

“Where did you get that?” Rayne asked in surprise.

“It’s been sitting in a drawer in our stateroom aboard the
Ugaztun
for years,” Lariah said.  “Ever since your brothers sneaked into your room and gave you and your sisters haircuts.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“Yes, it was, but my children would still be at war with each other to this day without this thing.  I promised to always have one handy, and I do try to keep my promises.  I packed up all the things you had in your stateroom aboard the
Ugaztun
and brought them over.  If you want anything from the cartons in the cargo hold, let me know.  Now, take a minute to greet your fathers, then we’ll get to the bottom of all this.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Rayne said, then tried to push herself up to a sitting position.  Trey was there in a flash, helping her up, while Val arranged the pillows behind her.  When she was settled comfortably she looked around, but the Bearen-Hirus weren’t there.  She reached out with her senses, momentarily forgetting that with her shield up she wouldn’t be able to feel them.  Her hands clutched the blanket covering her lap as fear spiked adrenaline flooded her system, and she dropped her partial shield in pure desperation.  A couple of seconds later the door flew open and Landor, Con and Ari rushed into the room. 

“What’s wrong?” Landor asked, going straight to Rayne’s side so fast that for a moment he was just a blur. 

“Nothing, I just… I couldn’t find you,” she said breathlessly, blushing with embarrassment. 

“We wanted to give your parents some time alone with you,” he said.  “We’ll be right outside, I promise.”

“There’s no need for you to leave,” Garen said.  “Your absence will make her nervous even if she knows where you are, as is to be expected under the circumstances.  She doesn’t need any unnecessary stress right now.”

“Thank you,
Ata
,” Rayne whispered.  Landor moved to stand at the foot of the bed with Con and Ari, watching while she received hugs and kisses from each of her fathers.  When the Princes were settled on the chairs that Con and Ari had set out, Lariah pulled her chair closer to the bed and turned on the hair follicle restorer that Doc had created years earlier. 

“Do you want it as long as it was?  Or longer?  We can make it however you want.”

“I’d love it back the way it was, Mom, but I think it’s best if I look as little like myself as possible for now,” she said.  “Shoulder length, I guess, and I should change the color, too.”

“Yes, I suppose you should,” Lariah said.  “What do you think about brown?”

“Brown is fine,” Rayne said.  “I should get colored contacts for my eyes, as well.  The only other person I know of with my eye color is
Dede
, which makes them too recognizable.”

“What will you tell the crew?” Garen asked Landor.

“That we’ve found our
berezi
, a young woman we call
Kisu
,” Landor replied. 

Garen nodded.  “Clever.”

“Why is that clever?” Lariah asked after setting the hair wand to
Brown
and
Straight
. 

“Because
Kisu
means rain,” Garen replied.  He eyed Rayne carefully, hiding his shock, horror, and fury at what he saw.  Her appearance was so drastically different from when he’d seen her the evening before that it felt surreal.  He was doubly grateful to Landor for doing such a good job of warning them, but even so, mere words could never have prepared them for the reality of seeing one of their baby girls in such a horrific state.  “Are you up to this now, Daughter?  Because we can wait, if you’d like.”

“No,
Ata
,” Rayne said.  “I can do this.  If I get too tired, I’ll let you know.”

“All right,” Garen said, nodding.

“Besides, there’s really very little for me to tell you,” she added. 

“Landor has already told us that you were abducted last night, and that you returned a couple of minutes later to this time after what was a year’s absence for you.  He also said that you have few memories, and that you cannot speak above a whisper, but don’t remember why.” 

“That’s right,” she said.  “I remembered this morning that I have to leave as soon as possible for a place on the other side of Known Space.”

“What place?” Trey asked.

“It’s a moon a couple of days from Onddo,” Con said as Landor retrieved the sealed, clear plastic bag containing the shift Rayne had worn.  He handed it to Garen.

“The lettering is written in Rayne’s blood, so we assume they were the most important items she could think of before losing part of her memory.”

“This is where you’re going to go?” Garen asked, passing the shift to Trey. 

“Yes,” Rayne replied.  “I don’t remember why yet, but I know that if we don’t go there, if we don’t…,” she paused, searching for whatever word came next, but there wasn’t one.  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what it is I have to do.  I just know that something very bad will happen if I don’t go.  Something that will affect not only the Jasani, but all of the people of the Thousand Worlds, too, and not in a good way.”

“Is there any reason why we can’t all go?” Trey asked, passing the shift to Val after one quick glance.  The sight of their daughter’s words written in her own blood on the coarse fabric was too much for him.  If he looked at it for too long, he’d lose control of himself, something he hadn’t done in so long that he no longer remembered the last time it had happened. 

“If they have even the smallest hint that anyone is aware of their location, they’ll move and we’ll never find them.  Only ships that have Blind Sight can go,
Dede
.”

“The
Armadura
is equipped with Blind Sight?” Trey asked Landor in surprise.

“It is now,” Con answered.  “The one that was used to hide Garza is being installed by Khurda as we speak.  In absolute secrecy.  It’s larger than we need to fully hide the
Armadura
, but the others he has are too small.”

“We have cloaking devices on our ships, of course, but not Blind Sight,” Garen said.  “It was a deliberate decision to shun Xanti technology that I fear we will now pay for.”

“What is a
Doftle
?” Val asked, staring down at the plastic wrapped garment in his hands.

“I don’t know,
Popi
,” Rayne said.  “But whenever I hear that word I get a picture in my mind of big oval black eyes.  Soulless eyes.”  She shuddered uncontrollably.  Con went to a tray on a nearby table and poured her a cup of tea from a fresh pot, then handed it to her.  She smiled her thanks and sipped it, the warmth of the cup in her hands soothing her.

“Whoever they are, whatever they are, they absolutely cannot find out I’m here, in this time.  I don’t know, or remember, what they’d do, but I know that it would be very bad.  And they’d move.  If they do that, we’ll never find them in time to stop…whatever it is they’re doing.  Or planning to do.” 

“Then they will not find out,” Garen decreed.  “It will be hard on your sisters and brothers, but with so much at risk, we have no choice.”

“We can’t tell Tani or Salene?” Lariah asked.

“No,
Sharali
, I’m afraid not,” Garen said.  “If they’re not upset at the news of their sister’s abduction, people will be immediately suspicious, and none of our children are skilled liars.”

“You’re right,” Lariah agreed with a sigh.  “But we will not tell Tani until she and Steel return from their honeymoon.  Salene we can tell when we return to the
Ugaztun
.”

“
Cukier
,” Rayne said suddenly, earning surprised looks from the Bearen-Hirus and, surprising them further, faint smiles from her parents.

“What is it?” Garen asked.

“Salene,” she replied.  “We need to rethink this.” 

Landor was confused when the Dracons all nodded knowingly.  “What’s the problem?” he asked.

“You will soon be family,” Garen said, catching and holding Landor’s gaze.  “That means that our family’s secrets must become yours.”

Rayne bit her lip as she watched Landor, Con, and Ari raise their right fists to their hearts.  While they gave her fathers their oaths, she struggled between two opposing reactions.  She was irritated that they’d told her parents that they were her Rami without giving her a chance to either do it herself, or at least be present while they did it.  And she was relieved that she didn’t have to explain to her parents why she’d agreed to let the Bearen-Hirus take her to Buhell.  Not wanting her parents or the Bearen-Hirus to feel her scattered emotions, she raised her partial shield.

When they finished their oaths, she noticed that her fathers were staring at her expectantly.  Apparently it was her task to tell them about Salene.  “Salene can feel people that she’s close to, or has a connection with,” she said.  “If they aren’t too far away, she can even tell where they are.”

“How far is too far?” Landor asked curiously.

“When we were on Edu-12 and her Gryphons, Talus, Jon, and Kar, were on Jasan, she could feel them,” she said.  “But when they went to Earth on ICARUS business, she couldn’t.”

“The distance between Jasan and EDU-12 is enormous,” Ari said, impressed.  “Nearly half the width of the Thousand Worlds.”

“Why didn’t she find you when you went missing?” Con asked Rayne.

“I don’t know,” she replied.  “Maybe she did and I don’t remember, or maybe the distance between us was too great for her to feel me.”

“Buhell is further from Garza than EDU-12 is from Jasan, that’s true,” Landor said.  “But, I think Buhell would be within her range from Jasan.”  He tilted his head as he studied the set of Rayne’s shoulders, the slight frown on her mouth, and most importantly, the expression in her eyes.  “You don’t think distance is the explanation.”

Rayne shook her head slowly.  “No, I don’t, though I don’t know why.”

“I too sense there is something more to this,” Garen said.  “Something troubling.”

“What are Salene’s current plans?” Rayne asked.

“I don’t think she has any, other than to accompany us when we leave for Jasan in two days,” Lariah said.  “What’re you thinking?” 

“I’m thinking that she needs to do something
other
than whatever she currently plans to do,” Rayne said.  “Is that possible?”

“The Gryphons are leaving tonight for ICARUS headquarters to handle an errand for us,” Val said.  “After that, they’ll go straight home to Jasan to prepare for their binding ceremony.” 

“We’ll request that they take Salene with them,” Garen said.

“You’ll have to tell her the truth about me, too,” Rayne said.  “Otherwise, she’ll try to find me when she learns I’ve gone missing, and when she feels me she won’t know to keep it secret.”  She sighed heavily.  “I’m sorry for all of this.”

“Do not be sorry,” Lariah said.  “I much prefer this over suffering with the knowledge that you’ve been stolen away from us.  All of us will do what we must and, in time, everyone will know the truth and understand why we had to keep this secret.”

“As much as I dislike this, I cannot see a way around it,” Garen said reluctantly.  “We’re going to have to let you and the Bearen-Hirus handle this matter on your own, Rayne.”

“We could leave the
Ugaztun
here and travel with them on the
Armadura
,” Lariah suggested.

“We could, but how would our absence be explained?” Garen asked.  “One of the three things Rayne wrote on that shift was a warning about Controllers.  We have to take that warning seriously.”

“Yes, of course we do,” Lariah agreed.

“It’s clear to me that our role in this matter is to stay back and make sure that there’s no reason for the slightest suspicion to be cast on Rayne, or the Bearen-Hirus,” Garen continued.  “While we wait for their successful return to Jasan, we’ll organize and conduct a search for those who’ve been implanted with Controllers.”