AWOL

by Traci Harding

  ‘Maybe we should just forget trying to find everyone and take a little time for ourselves.’ Yasper took hold of Jazmay, feeling very amorous.

  ‘Don’t be distracted by the atmosphere.’ Jazmay felt rather amorous herself; every day on Oceane felt like spring on steroids. ‘The others are still trapped on Phemoria.’

  ‘We don’t know that; they might have escaped during the security breach,’ Yasper pointed out. ‘Actually our lot probably caused it.’

  ‘Then where is everyone?’ Jazmay held him off to get an answer.

  ‘You know, you get more and more like Taren every day,’ Yasper noted. ‘Can we please just take a breath and appreciate the fact we are both still alive?’

  ‘Our son is still in custody.’ Jazmay’s resolve hardened and the reminder sobered Yasper somewhat too.

  ‘No, we have him.’ The couple were startled and elated to find Mythric had appeared by them in the pouring rain.

  ‘Mythric!’ Jazmay was so thrilled by the news and to see another crew member that she kissed him. ‘Thank you!’

  ‘We?’ Yasper queried.

  ‘Taren led the mission and we got everyone out,’ Mythric further advised, annoyed by trying to talk through the water teeming upon them. ‘You do know I erected a shelter here?’

  Both Jazmay and Yasper shook their heads.

  ‘Follow me.’ Mythric vanished.

  Jazmay grabbed Yasper’s hand and focused on Mythric to pursue him.

  ‘That’s better.’ Mythric shook himself off, and with a thought was bone dry — Jazmay followed suit and dried Yasper off at the same time.

  ‘So where is everyone?’ Jazmay had expected to find them here.

  ‘On AMIE.’ Mythric grinned.

  ‘Taren reconstructed her,’ Jazmay figured with a smile of relief.

  ‘So where is she?’ Yasper asked, excited.

  ‘Deep beneath the ocean here.’ Mythric pointed outside.

  ‘And Taren?’ Yasper queried further, happy to know she’d not perished in the explosion.

  ‘I’m here.’

  They looked to find Taren and Kalayna on the balcony, as something fell from the sky beyond the balcony and landed with a huge splash in the water behind them. There followed a deafening shriek of protest, and as all present ran out to view the cause of the disturbance, the shrill noise died away, as a vat disappeared below the water.

  ‘The Soul Keep.’ Mythric grinned at Taren, impressed. ‘You found it.’

  ‘Well, technically Kalayna found it.’ Taren passed the credit to their newest team member.

  ‘Good job!’ Mythric gave Kalayna a hug, as she looked completely shell-shocked and in need of one.

  ‘You guys got out.’ Kalayna was gratified to see Jazmay and Yasper.

  ‘Thanks to you.’ Jazmay pulled the revised psychic restraining device from between her breasts. ‘You saved both our arses.’

  ‘You have no idea!’ Yasper seconded that statement.

  ‘So it worked!’ Kalayna took hold of the device and looked to Taren. ‘You know I do believe I might be able to adapt this technology into a handheld pulse laser weapon.’

  Taren was very pleased to hear this. ‘That would certainly aid us in dealing with the Valoureans’ new, improved army.’

  ‘Is that what you intend to do, confront the Qusay directly?’ Mythric’s up-vibe departed.

  ‘I do not intend to do anything until I get word from Zeven,’ Taren replied. ‘He has one element of the curse. I have one …’ She motioned to the water. ‘And the Phemorians have the other. So, for the moment, it is stalemate. None of us can do anything without all three.’

  Mythric nodded to concur with her appraisal. ‘I should report to the Qusay as promised.’

  ‘Please, no.’ Taren gripped his hand to prevent his departure. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I vowed I would report what I know.’ Mythric was determined. ‘If she knows the truth about Zeven’s whereabouts —’

  ‘She’ll just believe Khalid has them trapped somewhere on this planet,’ Taren concluded.

  ‘Well isn’t that the truth?’ Mythric argued. ‘Neither of us can truly say whether there is foul play afoot or not.’

  ‘Then just wait until we have brought Lucian back from the dead,’ Taren appealed, swallowing her emotion. ‘If he managed to find Zeven, he will be able to shed some truth on this for both of us.’

  Mythric nodded in accord, and looked back to Jazmay and Yasper, who were both dumbfounded.

  ‘What has Khalid to do with all of this?’ Yasper voiced their woe. ‘Please don’t tell me Zeven was the one who broke Khalid out of prison. Is that the reason why the Qusay Clarona is so pissed at us?’

  ‘It’s not my mother we are dealing with any more.’ Taren realised just how much explaining she had to do. ‘Satomi has instigated a coup d’état on Phemoria.’

  ‘You’re shitting me?’ Yasper was overwhelmed by the influx of information. ‘So it was Satomi who gave the order that killed my father.’ His angry sights turned to Mythric, who held his hands up in truce.

  ‘I doubt very much it was Satomi’s wish to kill Zelimir,’ Taren intervened. ‘It was his long and illustrious history of torturing Phemorian spies, Yasper … it caught up with him.’

  ‘But my father changed his ways,’ Yasper appealed, only now fully feeling the grief of his father’s loss.

  ‘You and I know that,’ Taren countered. ‘The Phemorians do not.’

  ‘The way I see it, this is all on Zeven,’ Jazmay voiced her view. ‘Why are you still defending him, when you see what his actions have done? We were all nearly killed.’

  Yasper had to agree, and wanted to know what Taren had been hiding from them all. ‘Has Zeven gone rogue?’ He was fit to explode if Zeven had been acting on his own recognisance.

  ‘If he has,’ Taren answered him cautiously, ‘then your brother is his right-hand man and is equally to blame.’

  Yasper had near forgotten about his long-lost sibling and calmed a little. ‘Well, what the fuck are they doing?’

  ‘That is why I am about to resurrect my husband to find out,’ Taren replied calmly, well accustomed to Yasper’s mood swings. He may have been a warrior, but it was also his nature to be optimistic. ‘I want answers as much as you do. Jumping to conclusions is only going to land us in more strife.’

  ‘Telmo is no idiot.’ Kalayna came forth in support of her old offsider. ‘He knew we needed to shut down the inter-system gateway before any of us. I thought he’d gone insane, but … as it turns out he prevented a major international incident and saved both our lives. Despite what we’ve all been through, I believe that if he has chosen to support Zeven with his quest, then that quest must be vitally important.’

  Taren nodded. ‘The future event they are seeking to prevent is the very event I brought this crew together to deal with. If they play their cards right that event will never come to pass and our primary objective will have been realised.’

  Yasper was overwhelmed. Wiping his hand down his face to gather his thoughts, he concluded, ‘Then I guess a little torture and a few deaths would be a small price to pay.’ He let go of his angst and need to place blame.

  ‘No more secrets,’ Taren promised. ‘Once Lucian is back on board, I’ll tell you everything I know.’

  All present nodded to accept her word as compensation for now.

  ‘Then let’s go get our captain back,’ Mythric suggested, and the resolve spurred them all to better spirits.

  Once the entire crew was reunited in the mess hall on AMIE, their multitude of problems and suspicions were briefly forgotten as everyone rejoiced in their union and deliverance. Jazmay and Yasper were reunited with their boy, Fari, and Kalayna was patted on the back by many of the female crew for her bravery and assistance during their incarceration. It pleased Taren to see that she was fast making friends on AMIE and that they now realised why Kalayna was such an integral addition to the crew.

  Only Swithin appeared to
have a bone to pick. ‘Where is my brother’s body?’ He approached Taren to learn what she knew. ‘Please tell me he wasn’t blown to pieces in that explosion.’

  Taren’s eyes immediately welled with tears of joy. ‘He didn’t …’ she shook her head, so pleased to be able to reassure Swithin. ‘He’s on Sermetica, residing in the same unit from which you raised Satomi.’

  Swithin burst into a huge smile, and hugged Taren — spinning her around and yahooing like a madman. ‘Then what are we waiting for?’ He dropped Taren and looked to Ringbalin, who was chatting with Mythric and avoiding the females in the room. ‘Are you up for this?’

  ‘Ready when you are.’ Ringbalin was over-eager, and Taren suspected he was looking to escape this room at any cost.

  ‘Ditto.’ Mythric joined the huddle and the four of them gripped wrists and vanished to Sermetica.

  In the family crypt beneath the House of Vidor on Sermetica, Taren and her resurrection team were met by an alarming sight.

  A dozen Valoureans stood guard around the stasis unit in which Lucian’s body lay, and General Prochazka was seated casually on top of it — legs crossed.

  ‘I told you you’d be sorry.’ Prochazka grinned.

  Taren’s first reaction was to get her team mates out of there, but Prochazka slid a hand down over the power switch to the module.

  ‘I wouldn’t make any rash moves if I were you,’ she threatened. The fact she was seated on the unit meant if Taren tried to teleport it back to AMIE, the general would go with it. Taren didn’t want her knowing they had taken up residence on their old vessel, nor did she want her on Oceane near where they had hidden the Soul Keep. ‘Besides,’ Prochazka continued, ‘I am here to talk terms for a truce.’

  ‘A truce?’ Taren was sceptical.

  ‘Not my idea, of course.’ She sounded very put out by the notion. ‘But my Qusay feels that this dispute is getting us nowhere.’

  ‘Agreed.’ Taren demonstrated that she was prepared to hear her out by letting go of her team mates — Mythric did also.

  ‘Very good.’ Prochazka took her finger off the power switch and twisted around to gaze down at the captain therein. ‘He was very attractive, your husband; he’s enough to make one necrophilic.’

  It seemed this general always knew exactly what to say to piss her off, and Taren took a breath to blow off her annoyance. ‘What are your terms?’ she queried as if she shouldn’t guess.

  ‘Return what you stole from me,’ she advised. ‘You do not have the means to control its powers.’

  ‘Well, if you do wield such power,’ Taren posed, ‘and you have not brought it to bear at this meeting, you must have realised that I do have the means to contain that power. For the moment it can do no harm and no more women need to be sacrificed to sustain it. You already hold one part of this curse in the crown of Phemoria, and I think we both know all three parts of the curse must be brought together in order to put all these demons to their eternal rest. I will vow to you that AMIE will not attempt to retrieve that part of the curse from your possession, as a sign of good faith. And when the missing part is found, we shall bring them all to Phemoria, where all of us can bear witness to an end to their interference in the affairs of this world.’

  ‘And what of Khalid?’ Prochazka raised the prickly subject. ‘He must also be brought to Phemoria to answer to his crimes against our Qusay.’

  ‘It was the demon Chironjivi who committed those crimes; Khalid was just the tool he used to do it.’ Taren put forth Zeven’s assessment.

  ‘We shall be the judges of that,’ Prochazka advised. ‘You must deliver him to us.’

  ‘I cannot promise to deliver something I do not have in my possession,’ Taren replied.

  ‘No deal.’ Prochazka moved her finger back to the power switch of the module.

  ‘Finding Khalid and the rest of our missing crew, including Thurraya and her family, is our top priority,’ Taren assured to waylay her. ‘The captain is the only one who may have any idea how they fare. Finish him, and we may never find them.’

  Prochazka’s eyes narrowed. ‘And when you do? Will you bring your crew, Khalid and the Princess Thurraya to Phemoria, to answer to the Qusay for your actions?’

  Taren looked to her team mates and even Swithin, the most sceptical and self-preserving person on the crew, was nodding in encouragement. ‘Yes,’ she replied.

  ‘What guarantee do we have that you will keep this promise?’ Prochazka wasn’t convinced.

  ‘A hostage.’ Mythric stepped forwards to volunteer.

  ‘A lying spy!’ The general gave half a laugh. ‘I’d rather eat off my own hand. I’ll take the pretty little one.’ She pointed towards Ringbalin, whose big blue eyes opened wide in alarm.

  ‘No,’ Taren refused. ‘I need him to help resurrect the captain.’

  ‘I will wait.’ Prochazka shrugged off the protest.

  ‘Ringbalin is vital to my crew’s survival.’ Taren’s resolve hardened. ‘No deal.’

  Prochazka shrugged, indifferent. ‘Then war it is; your man whore dies.’

  ‘I will go.’ Ringbalin stepped up to speak for himself.

  Taren looked to him, stunned — Ringbalin went into mourning if he was separated from his greenhouse for more than a day! ‘Who knows how long our search will take, Balin, how —’

  ‘I know,’ he assured her, and then shrugged. ‘I trust you can take care of my greenhouse.’

  ‘What guarantee do I have that he will not be harmed?’ Taren turned back to the general, not happy with the arrangement. Apart from being their healer and horticulturalist, he was also one of her dearest friends.

  ‘He will have to wear a psychic restraint, of course,’ Prochazka advised. ‘But beyond that, we will regard him as a guest of state, and he can freely communicate with you.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound so bad,’ Ringbalin stated as Taren looked to him mournfully. ‘I’m sure I could do wonders for the royal garden.’

  ‘He can live in the garden if he wishes.’ Prochazka grew impatient. ‘Don’t worry, your precious little pet will be safe enough.’

  Taren was really starting to feel her fatigue and it wasn’t helping her patience any. ‘He is not a pet!’ she barked. This was exactly the mind-set that worried her.

  ‘Then stop treating him like one!’ Prochazka barked back. ‘He’s a grown man, isn’t he?’

  ‘All good!’ Ringbalin stepped into the argument, cheery as always. ‘It would be my honour to serve both AMIE and Phemoria in this treaty.’

  ‘I guess we have a deal then,’ Taren breathed down her resentment for the sake of keeping the peace.

  ‘Not quite.’ Prochazka sat back. ‘Will Sermetica be interfering in our business?’

  ‘Anselm is none too happy about my mother’s spiritual exile,’ Taren outlined.

  ‘Your mother is perfectly safe,’ Prochazka posed. ‘And will be returned, along with all our other sisters, when the curses have been put down.’

  ‘I shall encourage my father to reserve judgement and action until that time,’ Taren agreed.

  ‘And what of after her deliverance?’ Prochazka took the long view. ‘Do you accept that the true Qusay is already on the throne?’

  ‘I do,’ Taren answered without hesitation, which surprised Mythric.

  ‘Do you promise to honour her rule and not incite political rebellion?’ Prochazka probed. ‘Or ever again protest against the matriarchal rule of your great foremothers?’

  This was a difficult one for Taren as she was no longer heir, but agreeing meant cementing her young niece, Thurraya, as heir to the Phemorian throne. She looked to Mythric, who was considering the negotiations as seriously as she was, and after a moment he gave a slight, very pained nod.

  ‘I promise I shall never interfere with the rulership of Phemoria henceforth,’ Taren conceded.

  ‘Then we have ourselves a truce.’ General Prochazka stood and descended the stairs to stand with her Valoureans. ‘Agreed?’

&nb
sp; ‘Agreed.’ Taren forced a grin, but was truly relieved when the Valoureans and their leader stepped aside, leaving them a clear path to Lucian’s resting place.

  ‘Go ahead, don’t be shy.’ The general motioned them to their target. ‘We are all friends now. Let’s see you do your stuff.’

  ‘Is it just me,’ Swithin uttered aside to Taren as they scaled the stairs, ‘or does something feel a little off here?’

  ‘Maybe Satomi has come round?’ Mythric suggested.

  ‘Let’s just get Lucian out of here, ASAP.’ Taren gazed inside at his lifeless form, saddened by the sight and yet elated to have made it back here with the team she needed.

  Ringbalin held her shoulder in silent reassurance, as Mythric deactivated the status unit, and they all stood back as the lid opened, releasing the chilled air from inside.

  ‘Good to see you, baby brother,’ Swithin uttered as he moved to lay his hands on the captain.

  ‘Maybe we should do this simultaneously,’ Ringbalin suggested, already holding his hands together and building a glowing energy force between them, just as Swithin was.

  ‘Good call,’ Swithin agreed with a nod to confirm he was ready. ‘In three, two, one.’

  They both laid hands on the captain at once, and after a breathless moment for them all, Lucian came gasping back to life.

  ‘Welcome back, Captain.’ Swithin grinned at his brother, who was gazing about, trying to assess where he was.

  ‘I’m back!’ he realised, appearing not entirely happy about that. ‘How long was I gone?’

  ‘A few days,’ Taren stepped in to answer and reassure her husband.

  ‘Felt like ten minutes.’ He frowned, wanting to sit up, and Taren lent him a hand. ‘I could have used a little more time.’

  ‘And what does one get up to when one is dead, Captain?’ Prochazka drew his attention.

  Lucian clammed up at the sight of his murderer, and Prochazka laughed. ‘I am not here to finish you off again. Your wife and I have just struck a bargain for your life.’