by Laura Kaighn
As she stepped to Coty’s cabin, Dorinda pressed the door chime. Coty answered almost immediately his arm cradling a datapad and a magnetically attached crystal ring display. “Dori. Come in. I’m ... reviewing some notes about the delegates before they arrive.” He sidled aside to give her entrance. “What can I do for you?”
“I …” At first tentative, Dorinda settled on the direct approach. “Michael, Vesarius’s released me of his pledge, but I know he still loves me. I’m training for the Vwafar´ee anyway. I know if I can increase my PSY powers, I’ll be better able to deal with this trial and Vesarius. Will you help me?”
Without a second’s hesitation, Coty nodded. “You know I will. Vesarius’s being bullheaded, as usual. But he’s also dead-set on protecting you.” The captain set down his datapad to consider her quandary. “What you’re doing, Dori, is exactly right. You’ll beat him at his own game.”
Suddenly relieved that she was following the proper course, Dorinda smiled brightly and stepped to hug her friend. Wrapping one arm around her, Coty allowed the embrace then released her.
“I’m glad I can lean on you. This morning Vesarius was as dense as mahogany when I reminded him he still had to train me. I think he intended to ignore me altogether. How can he just shut off his emotions? My heart aches every time I think of him.”
Coty’s smile was sad but reassuring. “He’s hurting inside, too. He doesn’t want to do this, Dorinda. But it’s out of love that he’s unkind. You can’t give up.”
Dorinda nodded. “Lonnie said the same thing. She said destiny had already dealt us our hand.”
“Yes,” Coty agreed flatly and set down his electronic stylus beside the discarded datapad. “Well, shall we officially start your PSY training?” Dorinda nodded, and Coty waved her over to the couch. “Sit, and get comfortable. We’ll try to tap your clairvoyance.”
“What do you want me to think about?”
“Nothing yet,” Michael Coty instructed. “For now we just want to access and exit. Later we’ll work at directing the visions.”
“All right.” Dorinda watched as Coty sat down upon the bed across from her.
“Now, you’ve got to learn to do this quickly,” he advised with entwined fists. “In the field, you might not even have a chance to close your eyes. You must let your thoughts float. Whatever image seems to help you, use it. A dark blankness, a calm lake, a distant imaginary point. Whatever. But focus on that, and clear your mind of everything else.”
Nodding, Dorinda drew in a deep breath then released it, closing her eyes. She pulled her legs up with her onto the couch and straightened her back to rest her wrist on her knees. As Vesarius had taught her, Dorinda focused on a distant point of light in the blackness. She forced herself to dismiss the hurtful surprise from this morning.
Soon the whiteness drew nearer and split to reveal a darkened, orangish landscape where gnarled trees were beaten down by gusting winds and a scorching sun. Everywhere around her, flames spit and snatched at her from cracks in the rocks. Her hiking boots were muddied from a previously wet encounter, but here the dark soil splotches dried quickly and flaked away.
The ground was uneven, rocky and treacherous. The flames receded then leapt upward like striking cobras from their burrows. Dorinda gasped as two fiery vipers shot from under her rocky perch just centimeters from her feet. “Up here, Dori. Give me your hand,” someone called. Above her, wedged in the crags of a monument-sized boulder, crouched the bloodied frame of a man as burnt-skinned as the landscape.
Another searing serpent snapped at her ankle. Dorinda launched herself up the near vertical wall. She almost missed the Vesar’s outstretched hand. With a tentative grip of his long fingers and a precarious foothold, Dorinda swung her other hand up and locked it around Vesarius’ wrist. With one wrenching heave, he lifted her from the blazing scenery to the safety of the rocks. In another instant, the flames had slunk back into their burrows hissing in rocky defeat.
“Now we rest,” he told her. “The next trial will begin in the morning.”
Dorinda opened her eyes on Coty’s couch. He was watching her with narrowed eyes. “Quick. What did you see?”
“Fire, flaming rocks, and Vesarius pulling me up to safety. He said the next test would start in the morning.”
Coty nodded slowly. “Sounds like the future.”
“Yes,” Dorinda agreed. “The Vwafar´ee. I’m sure of it. The place was dry and hot. The trees were bent over as if from extreme weather.”
Coty grunted at the description. “Reminds me of the volcanic region on Vesar Prime. I’ve seen holos of it before.” He tilted his head in curiosity. “Can you close your eyes and see it still?”
Dorinda tried, but the vision had faded almost instantly, as the others had. Shaking her braid at him, she admitted, “I can’t hold on. All I remember is impressions. I can still feel the heat on my cheeks.”
“That’s normal, Dori,” Coty said tottering back on his bunk. “If you could remember it clearly, you’d soon not be able to distinguish future from present. Your visions would meld into your reality.” He shook a dismissing chin. “After practice, you’ll be able to recall certain details, but the vision won’t come again.”
“You mean I’ll never have the same vision twice?”
“Not the exact one, no. There’ll always be something different.” Coty shrugged within his gray fleet jacket. “Perhaps it’s because the future is always in flux. As you get closer to that future, your visions may become more detailed, more exact to the actual events to come. Certain elements will remain the same.”
“Then that explains the two I had about you,” Dorinda offered.
“Me?” The captain blinked. “Can you remember them? Do you feel like telling me?”
“I remember only that you were in great danger. Vesarius was going to leave you behind ... to die. I don’t know the rest.”
Coty’s wide mouth curled downward. “Abandon me? Where?”
“I can’t remember,” Dorinda insisted. “There was a transport. Vesarius had his crossbow ...” Dorinda closed her eyes, but – like a two-day old dream – the vision would not remerge. It seemed she needed much more practice. Sighing, Dorinda regarded her captain. “Michael, Roshana Zlenko’s training me in Tai Chi and strength-agility. You’re teaching me how to use my PSY abilities. With Vesarius instructing me for search and rescue, do you think I can be ready for the Vwafar´ee in two months?”
Atop the bed, Coty jerked as if he’d been punched in the chest. “You expect to be ready … for Vesarius to think you’re ready … in two months?”
“I’ve got to be, Michael. Something tells me Vesarius won’t stick around after Orthop. He might jump ship to keep away from me.” Dorinda’s eyes widened when she saw the truth of her suspicion in Coty’s jasper glare.
“He’s already requested a transfer,” Coty affirmed. “I denied it, of course.”
“He’s completely serious.” Dorinda’s words trembled in her throat. She couldn’t focus on her friend’s face. “He might do anything, then. Even betray you?”
“No.” Coty’s skull wavered adamantly. “Dorinda, we both know Vesarius. He might avoid you, be cold toward you, but he’d never jeopardize either of our lives, or the safety of this ship.” The captain swung a hand her way. “Your vision of Vesarius leaving me to die is too contradictory to what we both know about him.” Then Coty offered an encouraging grin. “Your PSY abilities are still untrustworthy. We need to work on clarifying your gift, so that it’s a true, probable future you see. Not just your subconscious worries.”
With a sigh, Coty changed the subject. “Let’s try another exercise, shall we? Usually, a PSY gift isn’t fully specific.” Rising from his bed, the captain stepped away from her. “I want you to close your eyes and keep them closed. I’ll approach you from some direction. You tell me when you sense my hand about to touch you and where. OK?”
“OK.” Dorinda concealed her emerald gaze. Relaxing she allowed her se
nses to find him, but Coty was suddenly not in the room. How could that be? She had heard Vesarius’ totem stones clicking before; had smelled his scent; had even heard his breathy smile. But from Coty she heard nothing, sensed nothing. Like his Lakota ancestors, Coty had camouflaged himself entirely in the open. Perhaps Michael hadn’t even moved. Perhaps he was holding his breath. Impossible.
Then Dorinda sensed his presence. He was behind her. A shivery tingling assaulted the back of her neck, the hair rose beneath her long braid. With great concentration, Dorinda finally realized where his hand was. Smiling, Dorinda snatched his wrist from her braid and turned with open eyes to see his astonishment. “You were about to tug, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Michael chuckled. “Amazing. And you caught my wrist without even looking.” Coty lowered his hand at Dorinda’s release and walked around to sit on the couch beside her. “I’ll give you three months at the least before you’re ready, Dorinda. If you can concentrate as well on all your training, I don’t think Vesarius could refuse you. Your talent is strong.”
“I’m starting to think I had it all along, Michael.” Dorinda hunched her shoulders and elaborated. “I used be able to read my students, know their needs. Other teachers’ students would come to me to talk about their problems. I could usually understand what was wrong, even suggest solutions. At the time, I chalked it up to being young. I was like a big sister, so they confided in me.”
“But it was much more than that,” Coty agreed. After a moment he patted her reposed hand. “I want you to practice your vision seeking at least once a day. Write down everything you remember right away. Or better yet, record yourself on a storage crystal.”
“All right. Anything else?”
“Yes.” Coty lightly grasped her hand. “Please don’t be alarmed at some of the things you may see. As your PSY skills improve, you’ll be able to block out your wandering subconscious and see true visions, things that really may happen in the future.” He squeezed her palm then released. “Right now, I think your worries are tinting your visions gray.”
“Does that mean the vision I just had can’t be true?” Dorinda needed reassurance that she and Vesarius would be together, would actually participate in the Vwafar´ee together.
The captain smiled easily and rose from the couch. “That one you’ll have to make true, Dori. I have faith in your determination.”
“Thank you, Michael. Without being judgmental, you and Lonnie both put me back on track.” Quickly she rose to kiss his cheek. “Now I’ve got to go face my steel-skinned warrior.” Dorinda stalled at the cabin’s solid door. “It’ll be odd taking instructions from him without his smiles or jokes. He’ll be a different person.”
“You can fix that too, Dori.”
“I will,” Dorinda reassured. She bounced from the captain’s quarters and right into somebody’s chest. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she began absently, a second later realizing who it was and where she had laid her hand to stop herself. “Sarius.”
“You cannot be a successful SAR apprentice if you stumble over your own feet,” Vesarius attested. He brushed her hand away from his family medallion and the hard but sensitive chest ridges beneath.
“I ... I was just going to meet you. For our training. Perhaps we can walk together?” Inwardly Dorinda was hurt at his quick removal of her hand. It was as if he had slapped her face away from a human kiss. His tone, normally teasing and light, was also different. Vesarius was actually being critical.
“I must speak with Coty first. Then I am heading to the galley for breakfast. You may wait in the arboretum for me if you desire.”
“No, wait. I haven’t eaten yet. We could have breakfast together.”
Again that invisible brush off. Vesarius’ wide shoulders curled. “I do not expect company. I intended to eat alone.”
When several people strolled by them, Dorinda stifled an angered retort. Instead she set her jaw and quickly quipped, “If you want to be by yourself, go ahead. I’ll be in the arboretum.”
“You will eat after,” Vesarius asserted, not quite a question.
“No, not at all. If my company bothers you that much,” Dorinda argued with a thrust of a stalwart chin, “I’ll just wait until you’re on duty. Then we’re sure not to run into each other. Commander.” With a determined nod, Dorinda stalked off. She was glad Vesarius had not heard her suck a quick, stress-laden sigh. At least Noah and Tundra would be glad to see her. Dorinda headed for the arboretum.
* * *
Over his steely shoulder, Vesarius watched Dorinda go. His heart flumped with each retreating stride she took. Though he regretted his bluntness, the warrior knew it would be far easier for both of them if Dorinda learned to hate him. With a remorseful groan, Vesarius stepped to poke his captain’s door chime.
Coty answered the hail immediately with a raised brow. “Commander?”
“I request a counsel, Captain,” the warrior began, his deep voice hesitant despite his rehearsed speech. “May I enter?”
Coty blocked the doorway with his sturdy, Lakota frame. “What’s troubling you now, Vesarius?”
Rebuffed by the obstruction, Vesarius pouted. “Sir, following our mission, I would like to append my former request.”
“For a transfer?” Coty’s dark head tilted away. “Dead subject, Iron Man. We’ll talk again when this is all over. And if we both survive the peace talks. They’ll be good practice for you.” The captain stepped back from his door. Obediently, the barrier shut between them.
Vesarius stood alone in the corridor once more. It seemed the conversation was deceased on delivery. With a sneer at the drubbing, the abandoned warrior growled. His fists curled as he marched to the galley to pick at his breakfast. Then it was time to confront Dorinda as her instructor. Vesarius would make the lesson difficult with no room for error. Then she would see just how futile the Vwafar´ee was.
The commander found her sitting on the grass, cross-legged, eyes closed in deep meditation. Sule, she is beautiful. Yet Dorinda was as a rose. To pick her from the stem would make her vulnerable; it would kill her. Better that she remain rooted here, on the Pompeii. The Vwafar´ee would be her death. Vesarius knew there was no honor in allowing a lover to die defending one’s birthright, one’s soul. It was his responsibility.
Silently, Vesarius knelt beside Dorinda. As he watched, her face changed from calm, to concentrated, to concerned. What did she see?
Dr. Sheradon had confirmed that Dorinda was a vision seer with a remarkably high PSY rating for someone who had never before shown an aptitude. Did she see her future? Was he there in it? Could there possibly be a way to bond without the sanctioning of the Vesar Council? He could bond as humans did, with a marriage ceremony. Yet that would somehow be less than what they could achieve through a Vesar bonding. Plus, without the Vwafar´ee to regain his birthright, Vesarius would remain soulless to his people, a dokt́ai. His death would still mean total blackness in Huaj´im.
“We must do it together,” Dorinda whispered beside him. “Only together will we succeed.”
Vesarius blinked. Had she read his mind? Impossible. Her gift was not telepathy. “Dorinda?”
Opening her jade-tinted eyes, narrowed in inner turmoil, she repeated, “We must do it together, Vesarius. If we go alone, we’ll die.”
“Do what together?” Vesarius asked not really wanting to hear her answer.
“The Vwafar´ee.” Dorinda unfolded her legs and continued. “I’ve got to tell you before it all disappears. Vesarius, we do it. The first test is through a fiery rock valley, the second over some high cliffs – sky cliffs, you called them. The secret to not falling is to always face away from the wind. Never move into the wind. That way loose rocks, cracks and ice can be seen and avoided.”
“You have been studying the Vwafar´ee? How do you know its secrets? Only survivors know these things, and they are forbidden to tell.”
Dorinda shrugged rounded shoulders. “I don’t know anything of the Vwafar´ee save what li
ttle you’ve shared. But I’ve seen it, Vesarius. We do go to Vesar Prime.”
Vesarius’ squared chin tapped his chest. “You have not seen us complete the Vwafar´ee. We would fail. You would die.”
“How can you be so sure?” Dorinda asked turning her body to face him. “If my visions are true, we have a way to get around the difficulties.”
“They are not difficulties, Dorinda. They are traps,” Vesarius assured. “Traps set to confound the very senses we rely on to keep us alive. You will not go to Vesar. I will not take you there.” Vesarius rose, Dorinda right beside him.
“I’ll prove you wrong, Iron Man,” Dorinda spouted, poking him in the gut. “I love you enough to die with you. We succeed or fail together.”
Vesarius huffed, bolstering his crumbling conviction. “I came here to fulfill a responsibility to you, to the ship. If you desire to cancel our session, it is acceptable to me.”
He watched her jaw tighten to ivory. “Fine. We’ll play your little psych game,” Dorinda conceded, “but I can be just as mulish as you. Now, what can you teach me, Commander?”
Vesarius had to admit, Dorinda controlled her anger far better than he. She, however, was not Vesar, with the heated blood of Fury coursing through her veins. That Fury had kept him alive. At times it was his only asset. “I will track you,” he told her. “You must not leave a trail for me to follow. The arboretum is too small. You must hide in the ship somewhere.”
“All right. What are my restrictions? Where can’t I go?”
“Engineering, your quarters, the bridge, and the arboretum. You may hide anywhere else. Tundra will sniff you out, and I will follow any physical traces, so do not disappoint me. If I do not find you before the Alliance transport arrives with the delegates, you win. You have one point seven hours.”
“Got it,” Dorinda quipped. “I’m gone.” She trotted out of the ship’s garden, and Vesarius started his countdown.
But his thoughts kept recalling her words. How could Dorinda have known about Dontktan-Tars, Fire Valley? With a Vesar aboard, the Pompeii’s computer library was more inclusive than other human Alliance ships. Still, Dorinda would have been hard-pressed to find extensive information on the Vwafar´ee. It was too old a custom, too sacred a ritual, for a mere human with a general access cipher to research.
