Ensign Probus

by Wendie Nordgren

  Honk! Honk!

  Looking out the window, Sparrow said, “I got you a ride. Do you know how to drive?”

  Ms. Reeves gaped at her. Then, she managed to say, “I do. It’s been years, but I do.”

  “Good.” Sparrow took her outside to complete the transaction.

  “We have to go. Will you watch out for her?” I asked the Harbor Master.

  “I’ll check on her once a day. You have my word.” He winked at me and whistled as he led us out the door.

  Clark said, “It was sweet of you to do all of this.”

  I shrugged and blushed. Outside, Ms. Reeves took my hands and held them. “Bless you, Teagan. Bless you.”

  Choked up, I gave her a nod. We loaded onto the Harbor Master’s roller, and he drove us to our transport while Sparrow and I waved goodbye to Ms. Reeves.

  “Well?” Sparrow asked.

  “Well, what?”

  She stared at me. “Does being here still hurt as much?”

  I took a deep breath. “No. It feels kind of fucking good right about now.”

  “I fucking told you.” She scratched at her stomach. “Now, we had better hurry and get on that shuttle.” She pointed toward the Empress and the waiting vessel from the tour guide company through whom we’d booked all of our excursions.

  “Shit.” I sped up a tiny little bit, slowing for the occasional roller and transport crossing our path. I parked near the ramp where crewmen were waiting who took it up the ramp and into my ship for me. Then, we hurried over to the private tour shuttle where Terre stood outside tapping her foot.

  Laughing, we clambered inside and took our seats. The shuttle was luxurious, having been designed to please high-end clients. We enjoyed appetizers, finger foods, and refreshments while the pilot flew, and our tour guide told us how long flights from North America to Egypt had taken centuries ago. Then, he regaled us with his knowledge of the Valley of the Kings on the Nile’s west bank, told us about subterranean mausoleums with their ornate burial chambers, ancient Egyptian gods, mummification, and their beliefs in an afterlife. Thunderdrop became excited about the mummification process and insisted the ancient Egyptians had copied the idea from arachnids.

  A few hours later, our pilot put the shuttle down at a privately-owned tourist center in which the company we’d hired owned a stake. It was ritzy, but not gaudy.

  Our tour guide said, “Ladies and gentlemen, you have an hour to compose yourselves before we join another of the company’s groups who is going on the same tour. Please, don’t be late. First, we will see the Pharaoh’s tomb!”

  He didn’t need to do anything to increase Terre’s excitement. Her eyes sparkled with delight as she took in everything. Phillip wore a big sparkling smile because his wife was so happy and dutifully took videos and pictures of everything to which she took notice. Terre and I weren’t the only ones of our party whose husbands had joined us. Jazon and Kaoti had come along in their official capacities.

  Thunderdrop balanced on my shoulder and looked around at our posh surroundings. Sadly, for him, the first sight that I intended to see was the restroom, but my ladies had the same idea. “So, this is how the other half lives,” I said as I entered my stall. “This is the nicest restroom I’ve ever before visited on Earth,” I called out.

  Tracy laughed.

  I felt as carefree as she did. With Kaoti, Jazon, Phillip, Clark, Thunderdrop, and my team along, we didn’t need to concern ourselves with anything other than having fun. The tour service even had its own hired security. Opening my stall door, I went to wash my hands at a marble sink with gold-plated fixtures when I noticed a tall female standing nearby with her hands behind her back where I couldn’t see them. Glancing at the mirror, I saw they were free of weapons, so I looked at her face.

  “Fucking hell,” I said as I scowled at her.

  “Don’t have a fit. I’m here to keep you out of trouble,” Captain Espanoza said.

  “Let me guess. You’re in the second group.”

  She raised an eyebrow and gave me a slight nod of her head. “Oh, and thank you so much for the Arachnean Silk bedding,” she drawled.

  “You’re welcome. It was all Gram’s idea. You neglected to tell her the whole story about how you’ve been trying to undermine everything I try to accomplish.”

  “Chitter! Chitter!” Thunderdrop shook a claw at her.

  She turned from us to wash her hands, and I did the same.

  Terre asked, “Are you okay with her being here? I can ask her to leave.” Her hostility was clear. Terre didn’t like Espanoza’s treatment of me and had a fiercely protective streak. It made my heart feel warm and fuzzy.

  Loudly, I said, “If she wants to spy on us, let her. I guess Quaid no longer wants the job.”

  Violet looped our arms together and walked out with me, guiding me over to a trinket shop where we bought a coffee table book about the pyramids, a few toys for the kids, a toy mummy for Thunderdrop, and lots of pricey costume jewelry which we wore from the store.

  Binder, Cedrenus, and Tyler took our bags to the shuttle and hurried back to us. Meanwhile, Violet asked Kaoti, “Did you see who joined us?”

  He nodded.

  Telepathically, I asked Jazon, “How is Yukihyo doing with Rupert?”

  “They are still in the schmoozing and posturing stage. Warren is trying to impress Yukihyo with his wealth, power, and connections. The Inquisitors have managed to breach his security and are searching his files, but they ran into two problems.”

  “What kind of problems?”

  “Eric and Quaid are doing their own investigation of Rupert, so our men are having to be doubly cautious of the Militia.”

  I angrily imagined Quaid and Eric sneaking around an office building.

  Jazon chuckled. “Not quite.” He chuckled again. “They are trying to get close to him. Rupert keeps his confidential files on a dermal data chip embedded in his left wrist. At the moment, he’s taking Yukihyo to an exclusive country club to play golf. Eric’s team is scrambling to get him and Quaid in.”

  “Golf? What the actual fuck? Yukihyo doesn’t know how to play golf.”

  Ignoring my telepathic dialogue, Tracy took my hand and drew me along into the transport we were boarding. At least, Quaid was with Eric and not another woman. A canopy above our heads kept the sun out of our eyes. It wasn’t scorching hot as I had imagined it to be. In movies, it had always looked sweltering. Instead, the temperature was comfortable, not too cold and not too hot. We were driven away from the tourist center and out onto immense stretches of sand. Ahead loomed a massive structure, rising up from the sand as if reaching for the heavens. Parking nearby, our guide led us inside.

  Covertly, some of the other tourists snuck pictures of my entourage and me amidst their other photographs. The Parvac Emperor’s daughter and her Silk spider were oddities amongst them. They hadn’t expected to see me visiting one of the wonders of the world. Trying to pretend like I didn’t notice, I followed behind Terre, Phillip, and Tracy. Visiting Earth was a dream come true for Terre. She had Phillip dutifully taking pictures of everything. He didn’t care. Seeing her happy was all that mattered to him. Holding onto Clark’s arm, I enjoyed the tour.

  We were approaching a sculpture of a cat when Captain Espanoza approached us. Standing beside me, she said, “I have to ask. Do you think the disappearances of the Good Fortune and Asylum are linked in some way to the alien technology?”

  I turned my head so I could see her more clearly. She was wearing an uncharacteristically feminine white, floral-patterned dress. I assumed she was trying to blend in with the other tourists and appear harmless should the person responsible for the technology, be it Rupert Warren or someone else, send more mercenaries to attack. “Yes, I do, not that my thoughts or opinions, those of a lowly ensign, are worthy to be heard by a captain such as yourself.”

  “Teagan, this is nothing more than an assignment to you and your team, but we are dealing with a much greater threat. I am relieved to be
guarding you here where you are out of harm’s way.”

  I reached up to touch the sphere dangling from a chain around my neck. She had no idea how truly serious the matter was. “Nothing more than an assignment? I fought to protect our warship during an attack in which seven of our men lost their lives. So, wait. That’s it? All of your trash talk, manipulations, and blatant theft have been meant to keep me out of the way? You expect me to believe you’re trying to be noble?”

  She said, “You need to stay out of it. The last thing we need is for you to get hurt and for your father to send his fleet against us.”

  “Huh, stay out of it? I’d have to climb out of it first because I got dropped right in the middle of it. It’s like a big pool of cold, congealed oatmeal. I keep trying to flick the shit off only to find more of it stuck to me.”

  Clark led me away from her. He couldn’t stand her presence anymore than could Eli. It was a good thing for her that Parvac males couldn’t stomach aggression toward females. After our tour ended, the shuttle pilot flew us back to Union Port City and my ship.

  Terre chatted happily to anyone who would listen about everything we had seen until Phillip insisted on taking her to bed. The children were all sound asleep in their beds after having splashed in their pool all day. I knew the feeling. After showering, I fell asleep in bed between Clark and Nico. The others were either off in teams scouting the planet and searching for answers or enjoying after dinner drinks with the illustrious Rupert Warren.

  Chapter Nineteen

  After breakfast with the children, my ladies and I passed out presents to the children and laughed at them in their T-shirts and pharaoh headdresses. Pierce and Lorca had planned their educational programs around our excursions. With all of the fun they were having, they didn’t mind not being brought along, but then their uncles might have influenced their carefree attitudes just a bit. Today, they were learning to build pyramids out of blocks, learning how to spell cat, and getting to make sandcastles in the cargo bay that the crew had transformed into an oasis.

  Yukihyo kissed me on his way to the lift. Today, Rupert was giving him a tour of one of his shipbuilding facilities.

  “Teagan, are you almost ready?” Terre asked.

  Sparrow was checking the time.

  Plastering a smile on my face, I went to dress. Today, we were going on safari in Tanzania, and Sparrow was adorably excited. What surprised me as we entered our chartered shuttle was Rovek, who had either been ordered to or had decided on his own to accompany us. From the jealous feelings which Jazon was unable to hide, I assumed he was joining us by choice.

  We spent the morning traveling, had lunch upon our arrival, and spent the late afternoon and early evening hours in an enclosed, plasti-glass terrain transport taking pictures of elephants, leopards, lions, giraffes, rhinoceroses, which had been saved from extinction through a cloning and breeding program, and zebras.

  “Oh, no! Jazon, do something!” Sparrow cried out.

  I grimaced and clutched Clark’s hand. From out of murky and deceptively calm water, a crocodile snatched an unsuspecting zebra from the banks. It fought and struggled. Sparrow covered her ears against its screams before the crocodile dragged it into the water and rolled it beneath the surface.

  “It’s too late, babe.” He soothed our emotions and directed our thoughts elsewhere.

  While Jazon was distracted by his sister-in-law, Rovek moved in on Tracy. “Are you troubled?” he asked her.

  “Why would I be? It’s part of nature. Have you forgotten my course of study?” she asked.

  “No, never. I could never, would never, allow myself to forget anything about you. In addition to your stunning beauty, you are a most sensible female.”

  Taken aback, she stumbled out a, “Thank you.” A blush heated her cheeks, and she glanced over at Jazon who pretended to watch a lion sleeping in a tree.

  “Lady Tracy, if there is time, would you care to accompany me on an expedition?” He pulled out his vid-screen and showed her something.

  Glancing around, I noticed Captain Espanoza, the vacation leech, watching them with the same horrified fascination with which I did. It was like watching a baby giraffe trying to lure a lioness away from the lion while he watched from a branch directly above. I could almost smell the metallic twang of blood in the air.

  “Oh!” Tracy said with interest.

  Rovek said, “These are the Great Barrier Reefs of Australia. I thought you might enjoy sighting and documenting the abundant aquatic species there.”

  “Oh! I would. I’d love to!”

  I could feel an emotional groan from Jazon. Rovek had gone in for the kill. He’d only been pretending to be a baby giraffe, but he was a lion in disguise, luring the lioness away with a hunk of meat too juicy to be ignored, the satisfaction of her intellectual curiosity and furtherment of her research. I almost applauded him, but it was too early. Jazon might still kill him. Meanwhile, Tracy wasn’t the only woman who found something impossible to resist.

  Espanoza made her way over to the seat by Clark and me. She whispered, “Doesn’t your Inquisitor realize he’s shamelessly flirting, hell, asking out on a date, the wife of a Laconian hybrid?”

  I whispered back, “Yes, but they are all Parvac citizens, and males will offer themselves to her. Look at her. She’s gorgeous. Jazon has decided to accept the inevitable. Look. If you’re lonely and want….”

  She quickly returned to her seat before I could offer to set her up with single crewmen from my ship.

  Clark put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. Even though we were technically on an assignment, we were enjoying ourselves.

  It was very late when we returned to the Empress. Yukihyo was doing a good job of distracting Rupert Warren, but no one had uncovered any dirt on him yet. He’d learned his lesson the hard way at the hands of the Mad Ones. Drex had been busy fulfilling his duties but had continued to spy on me as well. It was one of his favorite activities. Therefore, he knew all about Ms. Reeves.

  “For you, Dearest One.” He handed me a vid-chip.

  Sliding it into my vid-screen, I watched Ms. Reeves as she and a friend of hers from the housing community moved their things into her new building. Drex even had a few edited clips of them cleaning.

  He said, “She is being frugal and has ordered supplies for her first week. I suppose she wants to see if she earns a profit.”

  “What is she going to serve?” I asked.

  “Something odd, but no one else at the land port offers it, chicken and waffles,” Drex replied.

  “Wait. What was that?” Phillip asked. He stared at Drex with big blue eyes that were full of intrigue.

  “Chicken and waffles,” Drex repeated.

  “Oh, yeah. When’s that gonna be ready?”

  Drex said, “Tomorrow.”

  I smiled knowing who her first customers would be.

  The next morning when we arrived at Ms. Reeves’ small diner, she was flustered but happy. Unfortunately for us, we hadn’t gotten there early enough. “I’m all sold out, Sugar. They ate everything and loved it.” She looked at us with worry.

  I laughed. “We’ll try again tomorrow. I knew they’d love you and your food.”

  She puckered her lips and gave us a nod of her head. “You do that. Come back. I’ll be ready. Mark my words. We just need to go back to the market for more ingredients. Man! Those boys can eat. You should have seen them putting away the food. They ate everything I was cooking for the week in one morning. I’ve never cooked so much or so fast in my life.” She and her friend were all smiles as they cleaned up after their breakfast rush.

  Outside, Clark pulled me away from the window, lifted his hands to cup my face, and kissed me. “You’re a beautiful woman,” he said when our lips parted.

  Drex said, “I agree with Clark’s assessment. Furthermore, should one of us ever need a safe house, we know where we will be welcomed.”

  I gaped at him.

  He said, “I know it wa
sn’t your intention, but it is a satisfactory result.” He strode back to our transport.

  I looked up into Clark’s eyes and saw within them that he agreed with Drex and accepted his observation as fact. I wondered if I had been a blessing or a curse to the kind, older woman. Clark led me back to our transport and helped me take my seat. Meanwhile, Phillip took the driver’s seat and took us to one of his favorite land port breakfast nooks. Before we entered, he warned us ladies that it was a one-time thing and not to get any ideas.

  Drawing in a deep breath, I whispered a single word. “Donuts.” My mouth watered. I beat all of them to the counter and ordered two chocolate cake donuts, two eclairs, one chocolate glazed, and a large iced milk. After paying, I tore into them at a back-corner booth.

  Drex sat across from me. Sadly for him, he was empty-handed. He had done the wise thing and gotten out of the way of the hungry pregnant women. I pushed a chocolate cake donut over to him. I could make a sacrifice for a man I loved.

  I was deep-throating an éclair when I heard a male voice whisper, “Teagan, hey. Over here.”

  Drex pretended otherwise, but I knew he had heard. Glancing down the short hall that led to the restroom, I saw a familiar face. He held his finger to his lips in a silent plea for secrecy and motioned for me to join him. Getting up from my seat, I went to him. Obviously, something was wrong.

  “Hey, Henry. Long time, no see. I’d ask how you are, but you don’t look so good.”

  Henry had been the means through which Uncle Lee had introduced me to Hiroshi. Stubble covered his cheeks, and his eyes looked haunted. “I need your help. Please. I’m desperate. I saw you coming here and snuck in through the back.”

  “If you need my help, it’s yours.”

  Henry’s eyes darted around. Something or someone had him terrified.

  “What’s this about?” I asked.

  His voice trembled. “Not here. It’s not safe.”

  I sensed Drex behind me, and his presence was confirmed when Henry flinched. “You can trust him with your life, Henry.” My quiet assertion kept him from darting for the back exit.