Ghost in the Machine (Corwint Central Agent Files)

by C. E. Kilgore

  She glanced up at Ethan and watched his eyes as he stared at the Vesparian through the stasis field. She saw a longing in them, and she also saw a deep regret. “How about you? How’s the shoulder?”

  He rotated his right shoulder and winced slightly. “I think I may have stressed one of my joints, but it’s nothing that can’t be repaired.” He reached up and rubbed his chin. “My jaw still hurts too.”

  “Good.” Tara wasn’t going to apologize for slugging him. He had deserved it.

  “How’s the hand?” Ethan looked down at Tara as she flexed the hand that had blindsided him.

  “You have a hard head.”

  “Tell me about it.” He let out a small laugh. “You were right though. I was being a total prick. I’m sorry about that.”

  “Not me you should be apologizing to.”

  “I know.” He sighed and refocused his gaze on Orynn’s floating figure. Even in workout clothes, she was captivating. He had missed his opportunity again. Now he would have to wait until Orynn woke up. That could be in an hour or a week. He had no way of knowing for sure. Whichever it was, he knew it would feel like an eternity.

  “Here.” Tara held out the small gauze package. “Careful with it.”

  He raised an eyebrow and gently took the package from her and unwrapped it. When he saw the broken pieces of the shell hair clip, his sadness deepened. “This was very special to her.”

  “It was on the shower floor. I think she fell against it when she passed out. Can it be fixed?”

  He knew the shells might be able to be mended with a polymer adhesive, but it wouldn’t be as pretty as it once was. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “And this?” She held up another object towards Ethan.

  He lifted the necklace from her hand. “Where...”

  “It was in her hand. She let go of it while I was sliding her arm through the shirt.” Tara started putting some of the pieces together as she watched his eyes. “I think the clasp is broken. You went back to the vendor and bought that for her?”

  He nodded. The clasp was indeed broken. It looked as if she had yanked it off her neck in a moment of anger. He wondered if she had been wearing it the entire time and he had failed to notice.

  “So you two had a fight?”

  Ethan glanced away from the necklace and looked down at Tara. “More of a misunderstanding.” His eyes moved back over to Orynn’s floating figure. “My hard head misunderstood a great deal, and I ended up hurting her. Deeply.”

  He lowered his eyes, still not sure how he was going to repair the damage he had done or if it could be repaired at all. “If I could take it all back... if I could just go back and start over again.”

  “There is no going back. There is only moving forward.” Tara nodded towards Orynn. “She told me and Brom that once. It’s some saying from her people. I think you just need to talk to her, Ethan. Just tell her you’re sorry and how you feel, and I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”

  He looked down at the broken clip and necklace in his hands. “How can you be so certain?”

  “Just a feeling. I really don’t think you’re alone in your misunderstanding. She’s complicated, but in a way I think she’s simple too. I‘m pretty sure she is just as unsure about her feelings as you are, and just as scared of them.”

  “Did Hank talk to you about what happened?”

  “No.” Tara shrugged. “But it’s been pretty obvious, when you think about it. You two are alike in that way, I think. You’re both older than dirt, but a bit young when it comes to your emotions. You should use that as a starting point and build from it. I think she really cares about you, Ethan, and I think she needs you, too. Something about this mission has her worried, but she wouldn’t tell me what it is. I think she would tell you, though. So, you just need to be there for her, okay?”

  Ethan stared at her for a moment. “When did you get so grown up?”

  “Well at least you’ve finally noticed. Now, if you could please pass that info on to Hank, it would be appreciated.”

  “Still sees you with the pigtails, doesn’t he?”

  Tara sighed. “Yeah.”

  “Maybe not as much as you think. Orynn is right. You can’t go back and I think that scares him.”

  “Scares him?” Tara never thought of it that way. “Why?”

  “You grew up together. He’s had you by his side for eighteen years now. Imagine if that suddenly changed? He’s comfortable with how things are. The idea of taking the risk in changing them to see what you two could be beyond friends scares him. What if it goes wrong?”

  “I guess I understand. But, if it goes wrong, I don’t think I would just stop being his friend. I mean, I know things wouldn't go back to how they are now, but I can’t change...” She stopped and looked off to the side.

  “How you feel?” Ethan smiled as she nodded. “Maybe you should just talk to him and tell him how you feel.”

  Tara laughed. “I knew that advice would come back to bite me in the ass.”

  “Well it’s good advice. And if he doesn’t listen, you could always just beat him up like you usually do.”

  “True.” She smiled up at him. “Thanks Ethan.” She nodded her head towards the medical bed. “And I hope it works out for you.”

  “Thanks.” He looked back to Orynn as Tara left the room. “So do I.”

  The next two days were filled with silent reflection on his own thoughts and feelings, and the rest of the crew gave him the space he needed to sort things out. He spent most of his time in the medical observation room keeping vigil on Orynn as she slept. With the rest of his time, he worked alone in his room trying to repair some of the damage that had been done by the T’jaros. After doing what he could with it, he tried his skill at fixing the broken necklace and hair clip. He found the work strangely fulfilling. As he worked to restore the hair clip, he came to understand what he had tried to do when he ran from her, and he knew what he had to do in order to make things right.

  It was during one of these sessions, while crouched over his bench with a soldering tool in hand, that Merik walked into his room.

  “Hey tin-man.”

  Ethan didn’t look up from his work as he spoke. “Welcome back to the world of the living.”

  Merik tilted his head from side to side with a small pop and crack. “That’s debatable.” He walked over to the bench and peered over the Mecha’s shoulder. “I bumped into Tara in the hallway and she told me what happened. Well, mostly. The rest I just plucked from her head. She also warned me to stay the fuck away from Orynn. After hearing that so many times, it’s starting to sound more like a challenge.”

  “Either way, she’ll probably succeed at killing you next time, as I‘m not sure I’d try and stop her.”

  Merik gave a quiet humorless laugh. He could tell by the inflection in Ethan’s voice that the Mecha was almost back to his old self. “A challenge it is then!” His eyes looked over the clip in Ethan’s fingertips and knew he had lost the challenge already.

  Ethan turned to the Trexen and took a moment to realize what was different about him. It had been a long time since he had seen Merik without his reflector jacket. “I take it your jacket is toast?”

  “Orellian crispy fried toast. I have a spare on my ship. It’s an older model, but it will do for now. Jehdra is still going to kick my ass. It’s the third new model I’ve ruined this year.”

  Ethan smirked. “Jehdra told me once that she felt Command was punishing her for something because they keep sending her all the dysfunctional agents.”

  “No shit.” Merik mirrored Ethan’s smirk. “Speaking of dysfunctional, I just got a new order from her.” He pulled out his small communicator from his pocket and flipped it on. “Apparently I have to go save Brogen’s sorry ass again.”

  “Seriously?” Ethan rolled his eyes.

  “Seriously. Looks like he and his crew got themselves locked up on Merae. I believe this makes it the fourth time? Anyway, I’ve had my ship followi
ng my signal since we left Chronos. Hank is about to dock with it so I can go save the fucking day. I’ll try heading to Entarsk after I bust Brogen out of prison again, if he doesn’t get me killed this time.”

  Ethan nodded and looked at Merik in silence for a moment. The Trexen’s black eyes were fixated on the clip sitting on the bench top. “Listen, about what I said in the hangar…”

  “Feh.” Merik waved a hand dismissively. “I get it. I made a pass at your girl. You were livid.”

  “I still shouldn’t have said what I did.”

  “Don’t go getting all sentimental on me, tin-man.” Merik crossed his arms. “You know how much I hate that shit. You were pissed off, and you were right. I really am a sadistic son of a bitch. I meant what I said too. She deserves better than you.”

  Ethan nodded and looked down at the clip. “I know.”

  “She could’ve done worse, though.” Merik turned and walked out the door. “She could’ve picked me.”

  30 Solukae Noyai

  Orynn became slowly aware of the insistent digitally syncopated beeping noise to her left. Thinking it was her alarm, she tried to reach her hand out to it, but her whole body felt foreign and weighted. After a great deal of effort, she managed to move one finger and then another. Pausing to gain her bearings, she took in a deep breath of the sterile air surrounding her. Her head pounded in protest as she forced her eyes to break their crust of sleep and open. The soft moon-glow lighting blinded her, and she let out a whimpering protest to its existence.

  The shuffling of footsteps joined the beeping beside her, but her eyes refused to open again to see who it was. A distorted shadow passed by the light against her eyelids and the fear of her current situation gripped her heart. With a scrunching of her face, she opened her eyelids halfway and tried to move her hand towards the figure in defense. The blurred figure in her vision grabbed her wrist gently, but panic enveloped her as she fought against it. Her throat found its voice and she gave a pitifully muted demand.

  “Nalenae!” Let me go.

  “Alusa, Orynn.” It’s alright. “Ona Ethan. Medical-nokae bresa.”

  The sound of the Vesparian words calmed her. She was in the medical bay. The figure grabbing her wrist was Ethan. “Sokae?” Why am I here? “Ona grekae ni?” Who have I hurt this time?

  “Shhh.” Ethan placed his hand on her forehead and she closed her eyes again. “Oniri.” No one. “Nesa. Onae ni thrasa.” Sleep now. I will explain everything later. “Nesa.”

  The sleep came with little effort and trapped her back under a veil of shadows, distant sounds and incoherent thoughts. Her mind swam in and out of the darkness, but her surroundings remained constant. The beeping. The sterile air. The dim lighting. Ethan by her side.

  Slowly, her mind relinquished its hold over her and allowed her to awaken. When she finally regained full consciousness, she wondered how many days or weeks had passed. The soreness of her body told her at least a few days and the dizzy unbalanced state of her mind made her lean more toward a week.

  Her eyes cautiously opened, and this time they adjusted properly to the lighting. She gave her vision a few minutes to clear the haze covering the world around her. As things came into focus, her eyes darted around the room to investigate her surroundings. She was in the medical bay. A monitor was to her left. Attached to her arm was an I.V. tube leading from her hand to a bag of clear liquid hanging from a post above her.

  Her eyes moved to the right. There was a table with several data pads hovering in a small orbit of one another just above its surface. A Mecha charge adaptor was plugged into the wall with its cord floating next to an empty chair. Stuffed partly into the cushion of the chair was Ethan’s jacket.

  Her eyes focused on the floating charge adaptor and she took in a deep breath. He has been staying here, with me.

  Her mind also came to understand that she was in her native gravity. She started to move, but felt a tight pull against her torso. Numb fingers clumsily slid down her body and brushed against a canvas strap across her waist. For a moment, a panic arose in her that they had restrained her as protection from something she had done. Finding only one strap buckled without a lock, she pushed the fear aside. Her fingertips fumbled at the strap until she loosened it enough to slide the end through the buckle.

  Free to move, she turned herself into a poorly coordinated sitting position above the examination bed. Every part of her body was either numb or throbbing in painful protest. She rubbed her temples while she tried to remember how she may have ended up strapped to a medical bed and unconscious for so long. Looking across from her, she noticed a small mug, an inactive kettle and a box of black tea sitting on the counter.

  It took her a moment to put into perspective that the items on the counter were not floating. Her eyes moved around the room again and noticed the light orange hue of the stasis field surrounding the medical bed and the chair against the wall. Closing her mind, she connected to the node at the base of her neck to see if it had been damaged. Finding it in working order, and her senses craving the warm aroma of the tea, she decided to risk normal gravity.

  “Zera,” She paused and swallowed against the dryness in her throat. “please return to normal environmental settings at fifteen percent graduated levels and remove stasis field when complete.”

  “Command confirmed.”

  Taking in several short breaths as the oxygen levels around her decreased, her head felt dizzy again and a wave of nausea welled up from her stomach. Her body sank down to the medical bed as her implants pulsed painfully into her muscles. Once it subsided, she decided to see how well her legs were working. With a timid stretch down, she touched her bare toes to the cold floor and applied her weight to one leg. Her knee buckled instantly and she turned sharply to support herself against the bed. Numb fingers struggled to grasp the slick padded surface as she felt herself slipping to the floor.

  “Not so fast.” Ethan rushed through the stasis field and headed to her side as she floundered in her attempts to move away from the bed. He sighed down at her with a small smile as he placed his hands around her waist and lifted her back to the bed.

  Her fingers clasped his white shirt for support. When the scent of him so near hit her, she dropped her hands to the side and looked away. “My apologies.”

  “I leave you for ten minutes and you go from unconscious to trying to walk.” He placed both hands on her shoulders and leaned in to look into her eyes, watching as they dilated and tried to focus. “Are you sure you’re ready to return to normal gravity? Your neuro-stimulator was malfunctioning earlier.”

  “Yes. It appears to have corrected its misalignment. I just need a moment to acclimate.” She looked away from his eyes and stared blankly over his shoulder at the tea as the stasis field fizzled and disappeared. Her throat was dry and scratched as she spoke. “I am sorry for the trouble I seem to have caused again.”

  He waved off the comment and removed the I.V. from her hand. She winced slightly as the needle withdrew from her skin. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure how long you were going to be out.”

  “How long?”

  “Four days. You had everyone pretty worried.” He focused on the monitor beside her for a moment, then disconnected the band around her arm and turned the monitor off.

  “Four days?” She winced again as a pain beneath her gut stirred. Moving to get up again, she sighed as he pushed her shoulders back down. “Bathroom.”

  “Ah.” He kicked himself internally for not expecting that. Before she could protest, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her over to a doorway near the chair with his jacket. He gently set her on her feet just inside the bathroom and waited for her to get her balance.

  “Thank you.” She leaned on the wall next to the toilet and waited for him to leave and shut the door.

  He paced the medical bay anxiously as he waited for her. There was so much he needed to say to her, but right now he was just glad she was awake. Given her condition, he wasn’t surprised that
a good ten minutes passed before he heard the door behind him open. He turned to find her leaning heavily on the doorframe with wobbly legs.

  She allowed him to pick her up again and carry her back to the bed. As his arms released her, the skin of her arms protested against the sudden cold air of the room. His eyes continued to examine her, so she kept her vision focused on the counter behind him. “Whose clothes are these?”

  “Tara’s.” Following her eyes to the tea on the counter, he headed over to the kettle, turning it on. “Well at least you’re speaking Common again.”

  She raised her eyes to his back and tilted her head in confusion for a moment, then recalled their earlier conversation in Vesparian. “Ona quel’ni Vespari?” You speak Vesparian now?

  “Ki.” He nodded and placed one of the tea bags into the mug. Turning to her confused expression, he smiled and gave a small laugh. “It took Merik hitting me upside the head to figure it out. When you shared all those memories, your language knowledge transferred with it.”

  “I see.” She lowered her eyes away from his smile. It felt out of place and misdirected. At least now she knew how he had learned the meaning of Velstrae. That thought brought a frown to her lips and she tried to focus on something else. They still had a mission to finish, so she was relieved that he was at least talking to her again. “Where did you get the tea?”

  “I bought some from Torque before we left Chronos. Well, I tried to buy it, but he gave me five boxes at no charge. I was going to tell you at some point, but ...then everything...”

  She nodded lightly as his voice trailed off. At the mentioning of Chronos, her hand lifted to her chest, but lowered when she found the necklace gone. An awkward silence passed between them, but it was thankfully broken by the sudden beeping of the kettle. Her eyes lifted and watched his back as he poured the hot water into the mug.