by S. E. Weir
Shaking her head, tempted to find a wall to bang it against, Phina gave Sundancer a wary look before she turned into the dock she was looking for. She lowered her arms and tucked him in the crook of one arm like those American footballs she saw in the old movies. “Not happening, cat.”
I am not a cat! He yowled in her head. I am of the ninth family of Previdia! Give me some respect, human.
Phina walked toward the occupied dock as she replied, “Respect goes both ways. If you want me to respect you, show some respect to me. How much respect are you used to if you are in the ninth family, anyway? That doesn’t sound very high.”
He sniffed, not wanting to admit she had a point, and replied stiffly. It is plenty high when there are thirty-seven families in total.
She wanted to respond, but she saw a familiar figure coming out of the cargo hold of the ship in front of her.
“Braeden!”
“Braeden!”
The tall, slender Gleek looked at the sound of the familiar voice, but he wasn’t able to see much of his friend before she hurtled into him and threw an arm around him. He didn’t get a chance to hug Phina before he heard yowls of protest and felt tiny sharp daggers in his belly.
Stop squashing me! Honestly, how will you be able to train if you can’t properly take care of me?
Phina quickly stepped back and put down the small creature that had gotten smooshed between them. “Oh, sorry, Sundancer. I forgot. I was so excited to see Braeden.”
The creature gave her a look of disdain and began washing his paws. Clearly.
Braeden blinked at the creature with a perplexed expression before remembering that he had knowledge about this type of creature stored in the brothers’ collective knowledge. He would need quiet to retrieve them.
He turned to Phina, realizing that she stood in front of him. When last he had seen her she had been deep in a self-induced coma. He had caught enough from her across the systems that he knew she was awake, but he didn’t realize until now that he had to see her before his mind eased.
He looked at his young friend and felt pleased with what he saw. She looked much healthier than the last time she was awake. She looked ten times better since the last time he saw her in a coma.
“Phina, you are well?”
Phina’s face twitched as if she couldn’t decide the answer, but she nodded with a small smile. “I’m so happy to see you, Braeden. So much has happened in the short time I’ve been awake, and a lot happened to everyone else in the year and a half I’ve been in a coma. Everything feels strange and normal at the same time. It’s been something of a struggle,” she admitted as she stepped forward to hug him again.
Braeden wrapped his long, gangly arms around Phina’s shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze. His young friend, who was more like a sister, was the only being in the universe who thought to hug him. It gave him an odd but welcome sensation in his core where his two hearts resided.
Phina stepped back and grinned at Braeden. “So, how’s my favorite alien?”
A hacking cough sounded behind her. What am I, chopped liver? Phina looked down to see a trance-like expression on Sundancer’s feline face as he licked his mouth with his long pink tongue. Mmm...liver.
Phina smothered a laugh as she replied. “I’ve known Braeden for years at this point. I haven’t known you for an hour.”
The cat sniffed reproachfully. That should make no difference whatsoever. We are paired, human. Paired. I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation.
Looking serious, Phina nodded slowly. “Likely not. I’m sure you will explain it to me in great detail. Later.”
“Phina!”
She turned to see Drk-vaen, Sis’tael, and Ryan Wagner running down from the cargo hold with grins on their faces. They converged on her at the same time, Yollin and human arms flying everywhere as they hugged her.
“Oof! Hi, guys.” She closed her eyes as she attempted to hug them all back. She had missed them since she woke up, but it had been much longer for them. She felt warm inside and sighed. The rest of her chosen family was home.
When they didn’t let go, she wiggled her fingers. “Uh, guys? I’m not disappearing.”
They withdrew with smiles on their faces and relief in their eyes. Phina kept her mental shields tight so she didn’t get any stray thoughts.
“So, what’s been going on with you guys?” Phina smiled and put her hands on her hips, feeling awkward. Alina and Maxim had just started dating before the coma, and now they were getting ready to marry. How much had changed with these friends since she had been absent?
“What’s been going on with us? What about you, Phina?” Sis’tael looked like she wanted to jump on Phina to hug her again. “When did you wake up?”
“A couple of weeks ago.” Phina shrugged. She knew she would need to share what had changed with her but wanted to delay that as long as possible.
Drk-vaen appeared thoughtful and looked at Braeden. “Wasn’t that around the same time we had that celebration for the Aurians’ new planet?”
Braeden nodded, his long face and body posture engaged and interested. “Yes, I believe it was that day.”
Phina told them the exact day and time, and they exchanged glances. She looked at them warily. “What?”
“That’s the exact day and time of the celebration, Phina.” Ryan appeared excited. “Is there a connection? That can’t be a coincidence.”
Braeden stirred and nodded. “I did reach out to Phina at that time and tried to share the songs the Aurians sang for their lament that has turned to hope for the planet. I thought I felt Phina wake up.”
The others appear surprised.
“What?”
“You did?”
“You didn’t tell us that!”
They looked from Braeden to Phina, who was also surprised but tilted her head in thought as she took her mind back to being in the gray nothing place. “I do recall hearing music. I knew there were words, but they weren’t quite registering. It was what pulled my attention and started waking me from where my mind was.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “I recorded it. Let me pull it up.” He reached into the bag that he had dropped before hugging Phina and pulled out his tablet. After a few taps of his fingers, beautiful music streamed out and began filling the air around them.
Phina concentrated and was about to tell them that it was the same music, but she stopped and listened as she heard the words.
“Our old world is gone, but we have hope. Our people are lost, but we have hope. Our life is changed, but we have hope. We are still here; we are still alive. We have each other, we have new friends. We have a new world to enjoy, a world to explore. Life will be different, and everything has changed. Life will be good, and life can be better. We have each other, and we have hope.”
The melody and the words filled her mind and began edging out the despairing and depression-tinged thoughts she had been struggling with since she had woken up. Her emotions had been in turmoil over the changes, but the music turned them to a more positive outlook—one of hope. Phina shook her head to blink the tears away and saw the others doing much the same.
“Damn, their voices are potent without the damper but so beautiful.” Ryan wiped his eyes as he put his tablet away.
Nodding, Phina gave a wobbly smile. “That was just what I needed to hear. And yes, that’s the music I heard.”
“I’m so happy you are awake, Phina!” Sis’tael lunged in for another hug and they all piled on again, laughing.
“Ouch!” Phina felt a sharp pain as a claw pierced her leg through her pants and looked down around human and Yollin arms to see Sundancer’s wrinkly pink face and bright blue eyes looking up at her with a grave expression.
We need to talk. Now.
Chapter Twelve
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Phinalina Residence
Phina walked into the apartment suite and shut the door after Braeden and Sundancer followed her in. When Phina had asked Sundance
r what he wanted to discuss, he had told her it was about her abilities, so she had invited Braeden as well. She had said her goodbyes to the others along with promises to meet up with them soon before they came back to her apartment suite.
Phina gestured for Braeden to take a seat on the couch, then entered the kitchen to get drinks for the three of them. After returning, passing out the drinks, and sitting in her favorite chair, Phina gestured to Sundancer to begin.
“Go on, Sundancer. What did you need to talk about?”
Braeden sat in an introspective position, acknowledging that she had given him his favorite drink with a nod.
Sundancer looked up and licked the milk off his whiskers with his long tongue before he spoke. Very well. Have you been feeling very tired and run down, like your energy is depleted?
Phina sat up straight in her chair. “Yes, often. Does it have to do with my abilities? Should I not use them?”
Sundancer shook his head emphatically. Absolutely not. It’s quite the opposite. Have you not felt a positive difference in your energy levels when you begin using your abilities?
Phina froze and thought back to when she was sitting in class and feeling tired. After she had used her abilities to figure out what the professor was up to, she had felt much better. Had that continued the rest of the time? She recalled times she’d felt more exhausted and realized she had been clamping down tight on her shields during those times.
“I see the correlation now that I’m thinking on it, yes. But the times I’ve been completely open, I start feeling overwhelmed by all the information that hits me. Is there an in-between?”
Sundancer tilted his head toward Braeden. Yes, but tell me. Why is the overgrown human here again?
Braeden stirred from his introspective position and reached for his glass of Coke. “I am not human. I am Gleek. The lack of hair and differences in cranial structure and appendages should make that clear.” He stretched out his free hand, gesturing to his shoeless feet, each showing four fingers or toes. His hairless elongated skull was apparent.
Sundancer immediately turned to gape at the Gleek, his sharp teeth and pink tongue flashing out of his open mouth. Ancestors above. You are? And you understand me the same as my human does? Extraordinary. My people have heard of you.
Braeden nodded once after taking another sip. He had told Phina before that he enjoyed both the bubbles and the effect that the sweetness of the Coke had on his physiology. From his description, it had the same effect as that of a beer for a human.
“We have heard of your people as well. I was reviewing the information. There seems to be a conflict, however. We have met your species you call Previdians. Yet, there was also a similar species we have encountered in Estaria that called themselves Sphinx.”
Sundancer waved a paw and gave Braeden a sour expression. Yes, yes. Those miscreants were Previdians at one time. A long time ago, a great, great uncle of mine visited the planet humans call Earth. He stayed there for some time and even had children there. The humans who called themselves Egyptians couldn’t understand his words, but they revered him and called him a Sphinx cat. They made statues in his honor, although he lamented that they didn’t display his beautiful wrinkles.
He narrowed his eyes at Phina. We are not cats. That uncle eventually returned to Previdia and shared his stories with the rest of the Previdians. The story caused unforeseen issues with one family that had a more purple hue of skin instead of my family’s lovely pink. They liked the idea of being revered, and the stories my uncle told of the Egyptian’s afterlife and decided that meant the Egyptians were able to ascend to a different realm.
Sundancer sighed in a long-suffering manner. They liked it so much they thought this idea of ascension was the most important thing they could pursue, even above our vows. Since our elders disagreed and told them to cast aside their pursuit of ascension, this family changed their designation to call themselves Sphinx and left Previdia. Last we heard, they had settled on Estaria. Good riddance to them. Sundancer sniffed then examined a paw to wash.
Phina frowned. “Why was it such a big deal for them to pursue this idea of ascension? Why did they need to leave?”
Sundancer finished a lick of his paw and looked up with a grave expression. Because they had cast aside their vows in pursuit of it. Our vows are sacred to us. If they had kept it as a hobby, it would have been a mere curiosity that other Previdians found strange.
Braeden inclined his head. “Thank you for explaining.”
“You are welcome.” Sundancer looked up at Braeden with a fierce expression. Now, what have you done to my human that has made her so sensitive to the Etheric fluctuations?
Phina’s eyes widened while Braeden leaned forward with interest. “What is it you know, little one? I have done nothing but try to help her. If there is something wrong, it is not my doing.”
Sundancer scowled. Well, someone did something. This sensitivity is not natural. He paused then added with a small sniff, And don’t call me little.
Phina pinged ADAM through her implant, and he responded immediately. ADAM, have you been listening?
>>Yes.<<
Sundancer says someone did something to me that has made me much more sensitive to the Etheric than normal. Is this what you haven’t talked to me about yet?
>>It is in part. Let me see if TOM is available. He has things he needs to explain as well<<
All right.
Phina was curious as to who TOM might be and what he had to do with her life as she relayed the information to Braeden and Sundancer, who sat up at alert, his whiskers twitching. By the time she finished explaining, ADAM and TOM greeted them through the speakers in the room.
“Hello, Braeden and Sundancer.” ADAM’s voice came out in clear, crisp male tones.
TOM’s voice sounded more fluid but still male. “Greetings to you all.”
Sundancer nodded gravely then asked out loud, rather than in his mental voice, in an aggressive tone. “So, what have you done to my human?”
TOM answered immediately. “What we needed to so that she would live.”
Phina’s head jerked up in surprise. “What do you mean, TOM?”
“To explain the full story, not just the changes that have been made, we need someone else to join us. I believe they are here now.”
While they waited, Phina stared at Sundancer. “You can talk out loud too?”
Sundancer sniffed. When I choose.
The door buzzed. Shaking her head, Phina absently told Meredith she could open the door to let the person in. As the door opened, Phina took a deep breath then turned to see who stepped inside.
Link entered the room with a grave and wary expression on his face.
Her breath caught at the realization that Link had yet more secrets and ones that pertained to her. Shaking her head again, she introduced Sundancer to everyone then spoke in a sharp tone. “Anyone else joining us?”
Link shook his head at the same time as ADAM and TOM answered. “No.”
Phina pulled her legs up to cross them under her then rested her hands on her thighs. “All right. Who is going first in this convoluted story which involves me but no one seemed to think I needed to know?”
Link winced, then nodded. “I will start. This story begins with your parents.”
Phina tightened her hands into fists to stop them from trembling. Her parents? She didn’t think she could speak, so she swallowed roughly and gestured for Link to continue.
“During the first five or so years after we came through the Gate....” He paused, then shook his head. “No, I need to back up further and tell you the entire story, or some things later won’t make sense.”
He looked around the room with a fierce expression. “I will be sharing things that could compromise the safety of myself or Phina should word get out to certain people, so I ask you to keep what I will share with you a secret. Everything I am about to say is not to be mentioned at any time or place in the future. Will you make this promise?
”
Braeden and Sundancer agreed, although the hairless cat huffed at the thought that he might compromise his human’s safety.
ADAM hesitated. “DS, I would like to agree, but I can’t promise I won’t share this with Bethany Anne.”
TOM agreed, adding. “She would be the only one I would ever think to share it with.”
Link waved his hand. “That’s fine. She’s probably read most of it from my mind, anyway.”
ADAM and TOM agreed.
After giving Phina a half-hearted smile of reassurance, he rubbed his hands on his thighs nervously. “My name is not Greyson Wells. Or any of the other names I’ve used. I was born Lincoln Sherwood Grimes. John Grimes is a cousin, though we had never met before I joined TQB—Bethany Anne’s company on Earth before we came to space that later became the Etheric Empire. I mention it because it will be relevant later.”
He let out a sigh and continued in a rough tone, “My parents were not the most involved people. My mom took care of me as best she could, but she was more interested in her hobbies. My father hated me and took it out on both of us.”
Phina’s eyes widened. So that’s why he got so worked up about any slight mistreatment by her aunt. She leaned forward and listened intently.
“When I was nine, my mother died, likely of a broken heart. She just faded away. My father got worse in his treatment of me after her death, so I spent less time at home. I still went to school, but I found myself wandering the streets more.” His lips pulled into a smirk as he grew lost in his recounting.
“I learned how to get what I needed. How to speak Arabic, Hebrew, and Spanish—the main three languages on the streets where I lived—and how to blend in wherever I went to look like I belonged. I didn’t have a lot of money, but what I did get I saved for school. I knew as a young kid that college would help me get a leg up so I could get out of the house and leave my father behind for good.”
He shrugged. “College and I didn’t get along, mostly because I had trouble with the rules. Then I became friends with a really smart guy who made me feel like I belonged somewhere for the first time since my mother died.” Link looked up at Phina, his brown eyes the most emotional she had ever seen them. “It was Chris, your dad. His ethnicity was mixed and he had experienced what it was like to be on the outside much of the time. He saw I didn’t fit in with the others and told me to come sit with him, that we would be friends from now on.”
