Triorion Omnibus

by L. J. Hachmeister

Sebbs’ gall surprised her. That’s definitely not the stuttering, insecure Mantri Sebbs I remember.

  This is going nowhere, Jetta said, pushing her impatience into her sister’s head. Use your second voice.

  Breathing through gritted teeth, Jaeia tried to keep her sister’s emotions from wrecking hers.

  “I don’t want to become Liiker feed,” she said, “and I certainly don’t want to end up with Motti implants rattling in my skull. Do you? Because that’s what it’s coming to.”

  As if waiting for her cue, the Alliance Starbase quaked.

  “That’s just another one of Victor’s weapons demonstrations,” she said, pointing out the window as a score of missiles shrieked by, leaving a fiery trail behind them. “In a few short hours, he’ll give Li the order to demolish the last of the Alliance forces. The lucky ones will die in the strike.”

  “Motti implants?” Bacthar repeated incredulously.

  As Jaeia explained the discoveries made by Pancar and confirmed by the Alliance, Billy Don’t poked his head out from behind a gaming console and squeaked. Before the other dog-soldiers could stop him, he whirled over to her, zipping back and forth in front of her.

  “Tin Can seems to agree with your story,” Reht commented. “But I still don’t like how it stinks like every other lie.”

  Jaeia felt her sister tug on the back of her uniform. Do what must be done.

  Jetta’s right, Jaeia thought to herself, caving to her sister’s perspective. I’ll have to use my second voice. There just isn’t enough time.

  But as she accepted her burden, she felt her brother’s hand in hers, as if he stood next to her, not in the doorway with his eyes closed and head cast down. In this connection she heard past the sounds of the room into a parallel world, where ethereal lights danced in the psionic rhythms of the universe.

  I see his pain...

  “Reht,” she said, “I know about Elia.”

  Jumping to his feet, the dog-soldier captain rushed at her, but Jetta was quick to stand in front of her sister, and Mom was even quicker to pull Reht back.

  Jaeia continued, unabated. “Aware of it or not, you’ve been searching for a way to make things right for your entire life. This is your chance.”

  “Goddich leech. Stay out of my chakking head!” he yelled, wrestling against his Talian’s hold, but Mom wouldn’t let go. If it weren’t for the heavily armed guards that appeared at the door, Jaeia wasn’t sure if Mom would have been restraining him.

  “Pancar towed the Wraith with his forces when he came here. Seems you have a pretty good lockout on your systems. It would take our best hackers days to crack your terminals. But I don’t think we’ll have to. You have the only ship in our Fleet that Victor doesn’t have registry on, that can possibly get behind his defenses. You are the only one that can give us a fighting chance to end his reign and restore peace.”

  “Give it a rest,” Sebbs said tiredly, waving a hand at her. “You and your sister have plenty of muscle to get us to do what you want. Why don’t you just go ahead and do your mind tricks?”

  He’s got a point.

  She ignored Jetta’s silent sarcasm and held on tightly to Jahx’s perspective. “Because this needs to be your choice.”

  Reht stopped struggling. As soon as he relaxed enough, the Talian let him go. He brushed off his jacket and straightened himself up. “So what? I just drop you off and that’s that?”

  “If you can handle it.”

  He sported his usual dented grin. “Sebbs would have to fill in for my navs officer that was killed. Can’t have any of you fools touching my girl.”

  Jaeia nodded.

  “And I’d have to have an engineer I can trust.”

  “How about an old friend?” Jaeia offered. “How about Tech?”

  Jaeia signaled the guards, and they wheeled in the scrappy little engineer. Though still attached to an IV, he perked up at the sight of the crew, a lopsided grin lighting up his face.

  “How did you...?” Before he could finish his own sentence, Reht ran over and put Tech in a headlock, furiously rubbing his knuckles across the top of his skull.

  As he and the rest of the crew celebrated their unexpected reunion, Jaeia decided to leave out that Triel had played a key role in his recovery. The Healer restored Tech as much as Dr. Kaoto would allow, until the Chief ordered her away from the ICU to conserve her strength. Normally, she would have delighted in reconnecting two people, but the strange, palpable energies flowing between her sister and Triel made her wary of reigniting any feelings between the Healer and Reht.

  “Dr. Kaoto and the remainder of our medical team utilized all our resources,” Jaeia said, standing back as the rest of the crew descended upon their mate.

  Tech greeted them all enthusiastically but embraced Billy Don’t so hard the little Liiker squealed.

  “Gods, I’m so glad to see you guys,” he said, wiping his eyes.

  “What about payment?” Reht said. Playing with the bandages on his hands, he looked her dead in the eye. “I up my prices in wartime.”

  “Here,” Jaeia said, handing Reht a datawand. “This is my personal account on Neeis. I have at least ten million in there. That’s more than the collective bounties of a lifetime. And it’s yours to split with your crew.”

  Without pause, Reht plucked it from her outstretched hand.

  Gods, Jaeia—what the hell? You didn’t have to give him all that, Jetta grumbled through their psionic connection.

  “How do I know it’s real?” Reht asked.

  “You can download and transfer it to wherever you want right now. I don’t care. I figure that if you help us, and we succeed, it will be money well spent. If you refuse, we’re all dead anyway. So do what you like, Captain. There are only the lives of the Starways at stake.”

  “Well played, little launnie,” she heard Sebbs whisper as she turned around and exited.

  Jetta caught up to her as they left the detainment area, Jahx once again in the lead.

  “We have less than one hour until dustoff. You’d better hope that worked.”

  “I have faith,” Jaeia said, trying to sound and feel confident. “After all, this was your plan.”

  “Psssh,” Jetta blew through her lips and made big gestures with her hands. “I thought you were smart enough not to listen to any of my ‘crazy’ ideas.”

  Jaeia found herself smiling, remembering all of Jetta’s antics when they were little, and how it wasn’t long ago that she was wishing her sister was around when she was in a bind.

  Maybe Jetta’s far-fetched, impossible strategies aren’t always as wild and stupid as I thought, she mused.

  Or so she hoped.

  AS JAHX GUIDED THE lift to the upper decks, Jetta’s stomach tightened.

  “Oh skucheka,” Jetta cursed as he pulled up next to Triel’s door. A strong electric essence hung in the air, reminding her of the same sensations she felt when Triel had Fallen.

  “Wait here,” Jetta said, blocking her sister’s path.

  “No, I should go with!” Jaeia insisted.

  Jahx remained silent, not intervening, his rail-thin figure remaining on the lift.

  “If there’s something wrong with the Healer,” Dr. DeAnders said, “we need to call security. We can’t take any risks right now.”

  “No, don’t,” Jetta said. “I know how to handle this.”

  Jetta immediately regretted her words. Though the medical staff thought nothing of it, her sister picked up on what she’d left unspoken.

  Jaeia took her aside by the arm. “Jetta, what’s going on between you two? I’ve sensed it ever since we picked you two up on Old Earth.”

  It was the moment she had been dreading for months, probably her entire life. Unconsciously, Jetta rubbed her stomach as the raw, unhealing wound came alive, sending waves of heat throughout her body.

  I can’t lie to Jaeia.

  She couldn’t lie to her when they were three years old and she had started to steal food from their neighb
ors to get them through another day. Or when she had cut open her knees trying to escape a child labor gang and gotten a nasty infection. And when Lohien was taken away and Yahmen changed the locks on their door. She wanted to bear all of it herself, but Jaeia would never let her.

  Jetta? Jaeia said through their bond, looking at her quizzically. Why are you hiding from me right now?

  I can’t tell you this...

  Jaeia looked hurt. Come on, Jetta. You think you can scare me away after all the meitka you’ve pulled?

  Fidgeting, Jetta glanced at the medical team monitoring Jahx, but also watching their interaction.

  I hate that they’re here, she thought to herself, anger reddening her cheeks. She felt scrutinized, singled out, interrogated by more than just her sister, as if the entire universe was watching and judging her every action.

  Pressing her hand against Triel’s door, Jetta felt the psionic strain.

  I have to get in there, she thought, but Jaeia won’t let me go without an explanation.

  She held her breath, struggling for each word.

  “Triel and I... we bonded on our mission together.”

  Jaeia’s eyes narrowed and she tilted her head, feeling out for the emotions Jetta withheld.

  “Bonded?” she said, lifting a brow.

  Jetta nodded, trying to convince herself. “Yeah. We’re really close now. We did some telepathic thing together on Earth. It was crazy. Um, amazing. I’ll have to tell you about it later.”

  Frowning, Jaeia pushed forward into her mind, but Jetta resisted as best she could. That’s when she heard him not so much in voice, but in the rhythm of her soul.

  (Jetta... feel.)

  But Jahx, she silently replied. I’m so afraid.

  Jetta closed her eyes, feeling her brother’s spirit flow through her like a calming stream, mitigating the fires burning in her stomach.

  “I love her,” Jetta uttered just above a whisper, hiding her eyes and clutching her belly.

  A smile warmed her sister’s face, and she relaxed her stance. “Finally. Jeez, I wasn’t sure what it was going to take to drag that out of you.”

  Jetta scowled, her cheeks flushing with heat.

  “Come on, Jetta,” she said. With a chortle, she took her hands. “You’re my sister, my twin—we live in each other’s heads. Do you really think I’d be surprised by something like that? Or that it would bother me? You’re still you. All sour-faced and grumpy, just like usual. Except now you get to annoy someone new!”

  “Very funny, Jaeia Kyron,” Jetta said, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes without giving herself away. “But how did you know?”

  “My dear sister,” Jaeia smirked, going in for a hug, “You can’t control your dreams.”

  Jetta didn’t think her cheeks could get any redder, but sensing that her sister meant it sweetly, she accepted her embrace.

  “I’m so relieved,” Jetta said, holding on a little longer. “I thought you would disown me.”

  “For this?” Jaeia remarked. “No. But if you ditch me again...”

  Jetta raised her hands. “Fair enough.”

  “Hey—where’s he going?” Jaeia said as Jahx turned the lift back down the hall.

  “Go.” Jetta transmitted her confidence to her twin. “I have to help Triel.”

  “I’ll follow him. Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Jaeia said, running up to the lift and climbing aboard with Jahx and his medical entourage. “Don’t you want a security team?”

  “No, that would just make things worse. I’ll catch up to you.”

  “Jetta... Well, okay,” Jaeia said, hanging over the railing as the lift sped around a corner. “Please be careful!”

  Jetta paused at the Healer’s door, feeling the dark energy intensifying.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have told Jaeia to go...

  Thousands of worms crawled into her belly as she commanded the door open.

  “Triel!” she gasped, stumbling to the ground. “No!”

  TRIEL—TRIEL! COME BACK to me!

  The voice, distant and small, traveled down a long tunnel to reach her. Triel stirred only when strong hands propped her up against the wall and checked her throat for a pulse.

  “Triel,” someone said, gently shaking her shoulders. “Come back, please.”

  As the last wisps of her desecrated father disappeared behind her waking eye, she found herself back in her quarters. Jetta was kneeling in front of her, carefully wrapping the puncture wound on her hand with a compression bandage she had made out of strips torn from a blanket. “What happened to your hand? What happened to you?”

  The sight of her was too much. Triel broke down, heart crumbling.

  “Dear Gods, what’s wrong?” Jetta said. “Tell me, please!”

  Triel touched Jetta’s face, anemic and gaunt, and discovered the place inside her where loss pierced. “You are so beautiful to me.”

  Jetta held her in her arms, brushing back her hair with a bewildered look on her face. “Should I call a medical team? Tell me what I need to do!”

  “No,” Triel said. “Stay with me a while. I want a piece of forever with you.”

  Holding her tightly, Jetta rested her head on top of Triel’s. “Please, tell me what’s wrong. I just want to help you.”

  Triel felt the hitch in Jetta’s breathing. She realized it too. There isn’t much time left for either of us.

  I owe her the truth.

  The Healer let the tears stream from her eyes as she admitted her vision. “Jetta, I never told you about what really happened in the Temple of Exxuthus.”

  “Okay...”

  “Lady Helena said that in order to prepare for what I had to do as Great Mother, I would have to perform the Ne’topat’h.”

  “The mating ritual,” Jetta said, eyes darting back and forth. Triel had forgotten that Jetta had stolen Amargo’s knowledge and marveled at how quickly she integrated the gleaned knowledge with her own perspective. “Helena and Amargo were told this by their mentors. This knowledge was passed down for centuries. It was something they were certain of.”

  “I had a vision,” she said, drawing in a deep breath and pulling away so she could look Jetta in the eyes. “Of you, with arms wide open.”

  Jetta realized the implication and sat back on her heels in disbelief. “Surely, not me. I’m—I’m female! That’s never been done before; it would cause a massive imbalance in our energies. One of us would die!”

  Triel pinched the webbing between her fingers so hard that it split the skin. “I have seen Arpethea, the old Seer from my childhood, many times now in waking dreams. She told me that you are the legendary Apparax, and that in order to save myself and my people... I would have to kill you.”

  Jetta’s face turned solemn, unreadable. Triel touched the back of her hand, but Jetta didn’t react.

  “But I can’t do it and I won’t, prophecy be damned. I love you.”

  Looking down, Jetta took the Healer’s hand, slowly bringing it to her lips and kissing her softly. “I love you more than the stars, Triel of Algardrien. If I must die for you to live, and for your people, then so be it.”

  “No,” Triel said adamantly. “I can’t do that.”

  The same worry line that appeared when Jetta sifted through her cache of stolen memories crossed her brow. “Maybe we’re not understanding what your ancestors meant. Normally a male and female performing the mating ritual would create a new, exogenic biorhythm—a child. Two same-sex partners were forbidden from this because it was believed that a harmful, endogenic reaction would occur. Especially women—we are considered vessels. We would suck the life right out of each other. But what if one of the partners wasn’t a Prodgy? I’m a Cudal-born telepath—I am the Apparax, by definition. Who knows what our pairing could bring?”

  “It would bring death,” Triel said, the certainty in her voice. “I felt it.”

  Jetta didn’t hide her anger. “No. I can’t believe that we were brought together only to be ripped apart; I
don’t believe our love could bring about death.”

  “Jetta, I can’t—”

  “Perform the ritual,” Jetta said, unbuttoning her uniform.

  “No!” Triel said, trying to stop her.

  “I will not let you die!”

  “I can’t lose you!” Triel sobbed as Jetta held her back by the wrist.

  Relaxing her grip, Jetta brought the Healer to her chest. “Okay, I’m sorry. Shhh, it will be okay.”

  As Jetta soothed her, Triel lost herself to the steady beat of her heart. Even sick and debilitated, Jetta possessed an uncommon strength that spanned beyond her internal sight, wrapping the Healer in a deep sense of safety and protection she only ever experienced in her presence.

  How does she do that?

  Despite the shadow she had seen numerous times clinging to Jetta’s soul, or the uncertainty of what power that thing held over her, Triel couldn’t deny the pull Jetta exerted over her being.

  Her own words came to mind: “Prodgy legend and prophecy has always been abstruse and somewhat allusive... I refuse to be told who I am, or what must be done in order to fulfill some ancient writ. I chose to seek my own path and decide my own fate.”

  And she remembered the anguish in her father’s machine-twisted face.

  Triel bit her lip. Maybe there is an alternative. “Jetta, do you trust me?”

  “Yes.” Jetta held her far enough away to look her in the eye. “And I believe that my love for you is strong enough to survive anything.”

  Leaning forward, Triel kissed her softly on the lips. “Then I will give myself to you, Uxoris.”

  “Uxoris?”

  “There is no real translation,” she whispered into Jetta’s ear. “Wife. Life partner. Half of my soul.”

  The Healer pushed Jetta down on the ground and rested briefly on her chest, listening to her breathe. “Think only of our love. Let no thoughts of sorrow or fear touch your heart.”

  Unbuttoning the rest of Jetta’s top, Triel caressed her soft skin with a light touch. She once again grazed the ragged scar on her abdomen and cringed when she felt Jetta’s pain, but didn’t linger long.

  As the Healer removed the last of Jetta’s clothes, she felt two hands slide underneath her shirt. Although Jetta’s hands felt rough and calloused from all her training, her touch was gentle, her fingers knowledgeable of all the right areas and just how much pressure to apply.