The Significant (14 page)

      
“You bitch!” Yuta snarled.

      
“Good day,” Isa said simply, turning to
her NCB chair and pressing her right ring finger to the steel ring around the top
of the chair.

      
The holograms vanished and the ring
slowly lowered to the resting position Kailynn had seen it in when she had
first seen the chair.

      
Isa took a deep breath, closing her eyes
briefly before she turned to the three others in the room.

      
“Forgive me,” she said. “I did not mean
to ignore your entrance.” Isa smiled at Rayal, her face brightening a little.
“Rayal.”

      
“Isa,” Rayal greeted, his smile equally
warm. “Hyun is going to suffer with their trade being monitored so closely. I’m
sure you’ll find many things that are against the laws of the Alliance.”

      
“I figured that she was in illegal
markets,” Isa said with a nod. “At least now I have a reason to bring her under
investigation.” Her expression dropped. “How many are dead?”

      
“The final count I received was
ninety-thousand and eleven,” Rayal said. “The capital was ransacked. Their
communications are destroyed.”

      
“I don’t understand why no one responded
to the distress signals,” Isa murmured, shaking her head. “It is very
troublesome to think that four of the planets with the largest troop numbers
refused to help the planet that provides them with over forty percent of their
food.” The Elite rubbed her forehead, sighing. “I don’t think I ever mended the
Alliance as well as I believed.”

      
“That area of the system has always been
a mess,” Rayal said with a broken laugh. “Pride and greed are the only things
that drive those planets.”

      
“I think that Yuta, Shane, and Urya are
conspiring with the Ninth Circle,” Isa said seriously. “It seems that everywhere
I turn, another planet has joined the Ninth Circle to conspire against Tiao.”

      
“Repairing relations with Caroie will be
exceptionally difficult,” Rayal added, shaking his head. “They will not easily
forgive being abandoned and their people being slaughtered.”

      
Isa nodded slowly, her eyes briefly
falling to the ground.

      
“Isa,” Rayal started, opening his
briefcase and handing her a file, “I’m afraid there is more bad news.”

      
“That’s alright,” Isa said with a thin
smile. “That’s all I’ve received today anyway.”

      
She took the file and clicked the screen
into life, looking over the information on the tablet.

      
“These are the transmissions that we were
able to salvage from the security mainframe before the shutdown,” Rayal said
carefully.

      
Isa closed her eyes, her expression
changing to something between irritation and pain.

      
“These are in Gihoric,” she whispered.
She looked at Rayal seriously, something brimming behind her eyes. “Gihron is
involved?”

      
Kailynn noticed the way Tarah tensed,
looking between Rayal and Isa.

      
“It would appear so.”

      
Isa sighed heavily, handing the file back
to Rayal.

      
“That complicates things. Over ninety thousand
dead so far, easily over a dozen planetary relations in ruin, and Gihron has
decided to rear their ugly head again,” Isa muttered. “Have you sent this to
Remus?”

      
“I sent it just before I came here.”

      
“Thank you.” Isa said. She rubbed her
forehead again. “This is a disaster.” She turned back to Rayal and forced a
smile. “I assume you have met Kailynn.”

      
“Yes,” Rayal said, turning to the
Significant. “I hope that you have not been overwhelmed,” Rayal said, still
addressing Isa.

      
“No, not at all,” Isa assured. “I have
quite enjoyed Kailynn’s stay.”

      
The smile that was directed at Kailynn
sent her heart fluttering in her chest.

      
Rayal glanced between Kailynn and Isa,
his eyes already unnerving because of the mismatched color, but even more so
when Kailynn saw that there was a look of acute realization in the former
caretaker’s expression. He quickly looked between the two again, then turned to
Isa.

      
“I’m happy to hear it,” Rayal said. “We
won’t keep you. Tarah, you and I should plan when to have lunch,” he said,
placing a hand on Tarah’s shoulder and leading her out of the room. Tarah’s
cheeks were immediately flushed again and she followed his guide without
noticing that he was leading her out to discuss something far more important
than lunch.

      
Kailynn’s eyes turned back to Isa.

      
The two were silent for several long
moments before Kailynn glanced back at the chair and her expression fell.

      
“Are…are you okay?” she asked stupidly.
Isa smiled thinly, her eyes falling to the ground.

      
“Not really,” she admitted. “This has
been a very trying morning, and there is still much about this situation that I
do not know.”

      
“…who is Gihron?”

      
“One of the most powerful planets in the
Ninth Circle,” Isa said vaguely. “They have been against Tiao for hundreds of
years. They do not approve of the Elites or Venus.”

      
Kailynn remained silent, not sure what to
say.

      
“Why was that planet attacked?” Kailynn
asked finally.

      
Isa shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t
know,” she admitted. “Nor do I know why it took us so long to learn of the
attack.” Isa took a deep breath. “Questions I will be trying to find answers to
all day. Not that it matters.”

      
“Why doesn’t it matter?” Kailynn hissed,
horrified at the statement.

      
“Because over ninety thousand civilians
have already lost their lives,” Isa said quietly. “There is no answer to these
questions that will explain away their deaths.”

      
Kailynn was surprised at the Elite’s
statement. Isa was taking the attack on the people of Caroie as though those
people were under her care. The Significant could only stare at the Elite,
wondering how someone who had stated that they had no human emotions could care
for people they had never met.

      
“I’m sorry, Isa,” Kailynn whispered
before she could stop the words or figure out why she had said them.

      
“There is no reason to be sorry,” Isa
assured. “I am the one who is sorry.”

      
Isa turned back to her chair to return to
work, but Kailynn’s voice stopped her.

      
“Isa.”

      
The Elite turned and was surprised to
find Kailynn right in front of her. The Significant wrapped her arms around Isa
and hugged her tightly. The Elite was still for several moments, surprised—Kailynn
was also surprised at her actions.

      
“I can tell this attack has upset you,”
Kailynn murmured. “But the fact that you’re angry and hurt over the deaths of
the civilians proves that you’re more human than those who killed them.”

      
Isa could not move for several moments,
stunned into silence as the words sunk into her brain. A small part of her that
had been forgotten five years previous slowly pushed closer to the surface.

      
For the first time in years, Isa felt
like herself.

      
She wrapped her arms around Kailynn,
tightening the hug.

      
When Isa came out of her office, she
looked older and tired, her face drawn in confusion and irritation. Tarah had
prepared dinner, but she had been absent-minded most of the day, which meant
dinner was later than usual. Isa did not seem to notice.

      
The Elite pushed the food around on her
plate, her eyes distant. Kailynn stopped eating when she saw the look on Isa’s
face. She could tell that the Elite was greatly disturbed and upset by what had
happened on Caroie.

      
After dinner, when Isa had barely eaten,
Kailynn went with the Elite to the sitting area.

      
“Do you want to swim for a bit?” she
tried to suggest lightly, though the question was clearly forced.

      
“No, thank you,” Isa said. The Elite sat
down on the couch and rubbed her forehead, lost in deep thought. Tarah
continued to clean up, throwing worried looks at Isa. Kailynn took a deep
breath and sat on the arm of the sofa next to the Elite, tapping her arm
gently.

      
“Hey.”

      
The Elite looked up.

      
“What can I do to help you get your mind
off this?”

      
Isa tried to smile, though her expression
just became more tired.

      
“I don’t think anything will help.”

      
“The more you think about it, the more
you’re going to think yourself in circles,” Kailynn said. “You need to step
away from work for a while.”

      
“I’m an Elite,” Isa pointed out with a
smile. “I don’t know how.”

      
Kailynn tried to think of something,
glancing around the room. When her eyes rested on the bar, she smiled.

      
“Alcohol helps,” she said, standing.
“What do you like?” she asked, walking to the bar as the Elite chuckled.

      
“Anything is fine,” she assured. Kailynn
grabbed some glasses, trying to remember where everything was from the few
times she had seen the Elite help herself to a drink late in the day. Kailynn
poured two glasses and picked them up when Isa chuckled.

      
“You better bring the bottle.”

      
Kailynn laughed, tucking the bottle under
her arm and walking over with the two glasses.

      
“You speak my language.”

      
The two downed several drinks together,
Isa silent as Kailynn tried to strike up any conversation. The Elite would
answer with a few sentences and then fall silent once more, letting the
conversation die. Kailynn would fill the quiet with another drink, causing her
head to be spinning by the time Tarah wished them both goodnight. The caretaker
was clearly worried about the Elite, but she did not know how to help.

      
Kailynn was not sure she could help,
either.

      
Isa was leaning against the arm of the
couch, her head in one hand as the other lightly held the small, now-empty
glass. The Elite’s eyes were not closed, but they were half-lidded.

      
Kailynn took a chance and stood, walking
around the coffee table and sitting next to Isa. The Elite turned to her and
smiled, leaning to the coffee table and pulling the bottle closer to her, refilling
her glass.

      
“Damn, you’re a strong drinker,” Kailynn
muttered.

      
Isa smiled in response, but did not
speak, bringing the glass to her lips. She took a sip, her eyes going distant
again.

      
Kailynn knew that Isa would not be able
to get her mind off the attack, so she no longer avoided the subject.

      
“Have you ever dealt with a situation
like this before?”

      
Isa tuned to Kailynn, her expression
genuinely confused.

      
“What kind of situation?”

      
“A planet being taken over,” Kailynn
clarified.

      
Isa sighed heavily and rubbed her
forehead.

      
“Yes, this will be my fourth hostage
planet negotiation,” Isa said. “However, I have never had to negotiate for a
special-class planet like Caroie.” She groaned and closed her eyes. “Those
morons have destroyed a large part of the Alliance.”

      
“I didn’t even know we were in an
alliance…” Kailynn said slowly, nervous about her ignorance.

      
“That does not surprise me,” Isa said.
“You were born in Trid. There would be no reason for you to know.” Isa closed
her eyes and leaned her head back on the sofa. “The Alliance had disbanded when
I came into power. Poor political decisions by my predecessors made the
Crescent Alliance collapse. I spent years and years trying to fix the mess they
left, but it appears that it was not as strong as I had believed.”